Collateral Damage
by Avogadro602
Summary: Just when he thought the world had gone back to normal, Leon finds a sticky web of deceit, betrayal and danger hiding right under his nose. At the center of this trap lies none other than his favorite temptress—Ada Wong. Rated for language and adult themes.
1. Masquerade

**A/N:**

**Avogadro602**: Hello all! Avogadro602 here. This story has been co-authored with NeuroticBanana. You can find her page and stories at www . fanfiction u / 3367121 / NeuroticBanana . And yes, this is a Resident Evil fanfic! We've seen a lot of Resident Evil stories out there, but they weren't always what we were looking for and didn't always focus on the characters we wanted. We've tried to keep everyone in character, and we've stayed true to canon as much as possible (to our knowledge, although neither of us ever played Revelations so something could've gotten missed there). But there is one IMPORTANT exception! At the end of RE6 in Chris's campaign, he pulled Pier's stupid butt into the escape pod with him, so PIERS IS ALIVE. They gave him some of Jake's antibodies and all was well. So yes, enjoy!

**NeuroticBanana**: Howdy folks, Banana here! So enjoy our little labor of love that has been a year and a half in coming. This little critter is all done so our updates should be at regular intervals. We will try to update once a week and maybe twice a week if we're feeling particularly generous. But yes, please read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: We do not own the Resident Evil Franchise.

**Chapter 1: **

**Masquerade **

His work usually wasn't a black tie affair.

Looking at the extravagant display of formal wear around him, you'd never guess the horrors that had been seen by the majority of the guests. But that was what happened when you got together a room full of people from his line of work.

Leon scanned the masked faces of his coworkers and nervously adjusted his tie. Frowning, he leaned over to Helena, who was seated in the chair to his right. "I must've missed the portion of the invitation that said, 'mask required'," he whispered.

"It _did _say that this was a masquerade," she replied, quietly admiring the faces around her before turning to face him. A simple, but elegant black mask hid her face as well. "Didn't you read the whole thing?"

"Guess I glossed over that part," he mumbled. In truth, he almost hadn't gone to this annual gathering of government agents, BSAA members, and everyone else under the sun who fought bioterrorism. Big parties weren't usually his thing; Leon had always been more of a solitary creature. It'd been Sherry who'd guilt tripped him into going. After seeing the invitation in his trash while visiting, she'd gone into this long lecture about how he never got out and did anything besides work. Having a social life was _important, _she'd said, _especially _after everything he'd been through. After all he'd done for her, she just _couldn't _let him wither in his apartment. Finally, he'd given in and dug the thing out, briefly noting the time and day. Thus, he was quite surprised when he arrived and found a sea of masks staring back at his naked face.

To his left, the blonde haired culprit gave him a light shove. The pink trim of her own pure white mask sparkled in the chandelier light. "You look _fine, _Leon. No one cares that you didn't bring a mask."

A dark haired man of a stout build approached their table, also disguised in a mask. It was solid black, save for a blue rose near the corner of his eye. It took only a second to recognize him as Chris. He glanced at the two women seated at the table before his eyes settled on Leon. "Hey Leon, where's your mask?"

Sherry slapped a hand against her forehead while Leon rolled his eyes. "Left it at home. How's retirement treating you, Chris?"

Chris pulled up a chair and sat down, shooting him a grin. "It's great. I haven't felt this free and easy in years. But I hear you're doing well for yourself," He nodded in Helena and Sherry's direction on either side of him, "A girl on each arm, eh?"

Before any of them could respond, Jill appeared next to the table, carrying a glass of wine. "What's this?" she asked, holding up a bright blue mask with a feathered peacock tail. The blonde hair brushing her shoulders contrasted sharply with her dark roots. He'd read about the incidents that had led to the pigment in her hair being leached out—her normal hair color must have finally been growing back. At catching sight of Leon, she frowned. "Leon, you're not wearing a mask."

He sighed, beginning to feel silly. "I know."

Beside him, Sherry's eyebrows quirked up in worry. "You don't stand out, really!" she insisted and desperately searched for a change of topics. Her eyes fell on Jill's cerulean dress, the neckline of which dipped nearly down to her belly button. "Jill, that's a lovely dress! What a pretty shade of blue…" she cooed, and then cocked her head to the side in thought. "And it matches Chris's tie perfectly… Did you two come together?"

They both blanched and shared a quick look. "What?" Jill inquired, sounding overly surprised, "You mean we match? What a coincidence!" She laughed nervously and automatically started to sit down in the chair next to Chris before abruptly standing back up and taking the seat next to Helena.

Now that they had successfully gained the attention of the entire table, Helena glanced between the two. "So… you _didn't _come together?"

"No!" They answered simultaneously.

A brown haired man walked over to the table with hurried steps. "Sorry I'm late—"

"Piers!" Chris yanked the poor man down by his suspenders and forcefully "encouraged" him to sit down.

Piers blinked in confusion, but willingly took the final seat. "Captain?"

"I had just been thinking that… ah… I don't think you've met our friend Helena!" He gestured to the quiet brown haired woman across from them, who appeared just as bewildered. "Piers Nivens, this is Helena Harper. Helena, this is Piers."

Piers shot his former captain a look like he'd grown a second head before shrugging and extending a hand. "Nice to meet you, Miss Harper."

She nodded and shook it. "The same."

Chris cleared his throat and stood up. "Well, I don't know about any of you, but I could use a drink."

Jill's eyes followed him to the bar. "I… have to use the ladies room," she excused herself and disappeared into the crowd.

After watching them both leave, Helena turned to Piers. "Do you think we should remind him that we've been working together for two weeks?"

Piers waved a hand casually. "Nah, he'll figure it out eventually."

"What do you think that was all about, anyway?" she asked, squinting at Chris's form as he signaled the bar. "I mean, he must've been pretty flustered to think we haven't met before."

Piers shifted uncomfortably. "Oh, I'm sure he's… got something on his mind… or… something."

Leon, who had watched the entire exchange in silent curiosity, finally spoke up. "You don't think he and—"

"Helena," Piers said suddenly, interrupting Leon's question, "I'm starting to think that Chris had the right idea. Join me at the bar?"

Helena glanced at Leon and back before hesitantly agreeing with a shy nod. "Alright…"

Leon grunted as they left. "You two have fun, then."

There was a noticeable silence between the last two left at the table. A small orchestra of violins and cellos played an uplifting tune in the background. "Well," Leon mused, "It's just you and me now, Sherry."

Sherry frowned and crossed her arms beside him. "I'm sorry this isn't turning out exactly as planned."

"Don't worry about it," he assured and leaned back in his chair, "It's my fault for not reading the whole thing. And parties have never been my—Sherry?" He paused, realizing that he'd lost her attention at some point as she glanced down to something beneath the table. He heard a soft buzzing sound, and his eyes narrowed. "Are you _texting?_"

"Hmm?" she hummed distractedly before glancing back up to him like she'd never lost interest. Discretely, she shoved something back into her purse. "Oh, don't worry, I'm still listening. Claire just wanted to know how the evening was going. You know she couldn't come and all." When he squinted at her suspiciously, she nudged him wither her elbow and raised her eyebrows. "Continue?"

Reluctantly he continued, letting go of the nagging feeling that she was lying. He _had _known this girl since she was a child, after all. "I was just saying that parties aren't really my strong suit."

She sent him a warm smile and patted his arm. "I'm still glad you came, though."

A waiter dropped a tray of dishes and Leon's eyes darted out to the crowd, ever vigilant. After everything he'd been through, it wasn't a reaction he was able to turn off. Around the spilled tray a space opened up, allowing Leon a view of the opposite end of the room.

As the crowd parted, something caught his eye.

Sherry kept talking. "This could be really good for you, getting out like this. And you never know, maybe you'll meet someone tonight that you really…" Her voice faded into the strings.

From across the room, a raven haired woman was staring at him. A stylish black and red butterfly mask rested on her delicate cheekbones. His eyes narrowed on her, and a playful smirk graced her lips that he knew only too well.

_Ada. _

"Excuse me, Sherry," he mumbled as he stood up, "I have to go… take care of something…" With that he began to make his way through the ocean of party goers. There might have been a voice behind him, calling out, but he didn't catch the words. He carefully weaved from person to person, never letting her out of his sight. One false move and she might disappear.

When he finally reached her, leaning against the wall in a flowing red backless dress, she spoke.

"Hey there, handsome," she purred. "Enjoying the party?"

"I've never been one for parties." He regarded her for a moment before extending a hand. She obviously wasn't going to talk out in the open like this. "May I have this dance?"

Her delicate fingers fell into his, that taunting smile still on her face. "What kind of person would I be if I said no?"

He led her out to a clearing on the floor and took her waist, pulling her close. His fingers splayed against her bare back. The skin was smooth, soft. Such a pretty package for one so deadly… "What are you doing here?" he whispered, lips barely moving.

She ran her hand up his shoulder and behind his neck. Her lips brushed his ear. "Can't a girl have a little fun?"

He suppressed a shudder, trying to keep his mind sharp. This woman must have had an obsession with turning him on. _What on earth is she doing here_? He repeated in his head for the billionth time. It's not as if she would've been invited; if she had decided to crash a party, she couldn't have picked a worse one. Almost the entire might of anti-bioterrorism sat in this large and finely decorated room. Had anyone other than himself recognized the mysterious woman… ducking his head down, he hid his mouth behind her hair. "_Fun _where you're concerned usually involves people dying, _Ada._"

She mocked a distressed cry. "You judge me too harshly. I only ever wanted to help…"

His grip on her tightened. "If you're planning something tonight, you know I have to stop you."

He felt her soft chuckle underneath his fingertips as her warm breath ran over his neck. "Ever the Boy Scout, aren't you, Leon?" Her own grip tightened a fraction on his neck, reminding him of just how dangerous she could be. "If you insist, I'll get straight to the point." She back led him into dipping her, arching her back against him before rolling back up into a lover's embrace. Her lips met his ear once again and she held him still. "You're treading into dangerous water, Leon. Be careful who you trust in the weeks ahead. Sometimes trouble comes from where you least expect it." The humor in her voice was gone.

He glanced to her in alarm. "Is this a warning?"

Her hand slid down his neck and onto his chest before it pushed off. She stepped away, teasing smile back in place. "Take it how you want," she replied, sauntering away from him, hips swaying, "Now if you don't mind, I have an appointment to keep."

"_Ada!" _he hissed in a loud whisper, mindful of the crowd around him.

She looked over her shoulder and winked before disappearing into a doorway at the back of the room. He rushed forward, but when he arrived at the door he only found an empty hallway. An open window sat to his right, curtains rustling slightly in the wind. She was gone.

He stepped over to the window and peeked out. There was a thirty foot drop. He was seriously beginning to wonder if that woman was human. With a sigh, he stepped back into the main room.

At the other end of the room, he caught sight of Sherry. Her short, white dress stood out against the dark bar. Next to her stood Chris, casually sipping his drink. At his side was Jill, who had materialized at some point when no one had been looking. He made his way over to them and tapped Chris on the shoulder. "Where are Piers and Helena?"

Chris nodded and pointed to an area farther down the bar to where Piers and Helena were sitting together, slumped over. The three of them seemed mildly entranced by the scene before them. Leon cocked an eyebrow. "Something I missed?"

Jill leaned over to him, still not taking her eyes off the pair, and whispered, "Is Helena normally this much of a lush?"

"Not that I've seen…" His gaze was drawn to them now, becoming mildly concerned. "How much have they had?"

"Piers has bought her at least four shots, plus there was that daiquiri she was drinking earlier…" Chris supplied, "I'm starting to think he's trying to get her drunk."

"But he's had every one with her," Jill pointed out. "I think _he's _trying to get drunk, and he's just dragging her down with him."

"_Shh!" _Sherry hissed from behind them, leaning between Chris and Jill's shoulders, "I'm trying to listen!"

They all quieted down as the couple in front of them spoke.

"Another round!" Piers cried out, raising up his empty glass and slamming it back down to the table. He rolled his head over, limp necked, to look at Helena. "Whaddda ya say?"

Helena moaned and leaned her head on her hands. "I haven't drunk this much since college… But you know what?" She turned to him and slapped her hands against the bar top. "Fuck 'em. Let's do it."

Piers grinned at her sloppily and gave her a pat on the shoulder, nearly causing her to fall off her stool. "That's the spirit!"

She leaned back, teetering dangerously on her stool. Piers had just enough sense to grab her arm to stabilize her. "You know, you go through it all, and you're never the same after. Know what I mean?"

Piers nodded enthusiastically. "_Exactly. _It's not enough that you save the world and pretty much die in the process, but then life's gotta dump on you. And _everybody _has to treat you all different."

"Yes! All those damn sympathetic stares!" Helena leaned forward with too much momentum and Piers had to stabilize her again.

"I _know!" _he agreed, "And then how your arm keeps twitching for weeks afterward…"

Helena rolled her head to face him with a confused look. "…wha?"

He shook his head suddenly. "Nevermind."

At this point, the bartender had reluctantly filled their glasses and placed them on the counter in front of them. Piers lifted his glass. "Screw it all!"

Helena lifted hers to clink against his, sloshing a little over the side. "Hell yeah!" They downed it at the same time, barely flinching at the burn.

"I think we should leave them be…" Sherry said with a small smile as she watched the duo.

"If he doesn't quit soon he'll pass out," Chris said with a grimace, watching as Piers got completely sloshed and started doing an impression that sounded suspiciously like himself. "I'm really hoping that's not supposed to be me."

Jill found his shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze. "Why don't I go call a cab so they can get home safely?"

"I'll go with you," Chris stated and the two headed off towards the lobby.

For the second time that night Sherry and Leon were left alone, save for the two drunkards further down the bar. "You left in a hurry earlier," Sherry commented, sending him an intrigued glance, "Who was that woman you were dancing with?"

"No one," Leon quickly answered. "Just an old friend."

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Are you sure? Because I—"

There was a loud thump as Helena fell out of her chair, giggling. "I think I'm going to puke…" she mumbled in between laughs.

Leon turned to Sherry with raised eyebrows. "Care to do the honors?"

Sherry rolled her eyes and huffed. "Why do _I _have to do it? She was _your _partner. _You _know her better."

"But you're _also _female," he pointed out as stood and walked over to pull the drunken woman to her feet, "And I don't think they'd appreciate me in the women's restroom." He wrestled the shot glass out of Helena's hand before passing her to a reluctant Sherry.

"I was _using _that," Helena protested, but allowed herself to be led to the bathroom by Sherry anyway. Leon smiled and waved as they walked away, almost chuckling. He'd gotten lucky. Just to be safe, Leon walked over to where Piers was sitting to keep an eye on him in their absence. This was _definitely _his preferred job.

Piers stared down at the bar top, bracing his hands against it. He took slow deep breaths. "Leon?" He said suddenly, staring ahead with a serious look on his face.

Leon turned to him, concerned. "Yeah?"

His eyes slid closed. "I think I'm going to throw up too." With that he swiveled to face him, bent over, and promptly vomited on Leon's shoes.

Leon looked down at his ruined footwear and let out a long sigh. "Aw, damn."


	2. Spilled Coffee

**A/N: We love you! ;-)**

**NeuroticBanana: **Howdy folks! Here's a little treat for anyone who's interested in this little story, a second chapter! No this probably won't happen too often, but since we're just getting it started we thought we'd post a second chapter for fun. Hopefully everyone can read and enjoy!

**Avogadro602: **I just want you to know that in my mind, Leon looks like he did in RE4. None of this scruffy RE6 stuff… Anyway. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: We do not own Resident Evil or any of its affiliated characters or elements

**Chapter 2:**

**Spilled Coffee**

The engine was quiet and only the soft sound of rain on the car roof echoed in his ears. His eyes stung from the early morning and the bitter taste of coffee lingered in his mouth. It was dark outside and he could hear traffic in the distance. There was a soft glow from inside the building he was parked in front of, beckoning to him. The clock read 7:47am; he had to get moving. With a soft sigh he opened the car door and exited his vehicle, homemade coffee in hand.

Rain splattered Leon's hair and soaked his leather jacket, marring its sleek appearance ; he'd have to pay extra at the drycleaners next time. Leon briefly glanced at the glass door that awaited him and read with bold white letters U.S. GOVERNMENT AGENCY. Leon opened the door with a jerky motion, inadvertently jostling his coffee and spilling it down the front of his jacket and shirt

"Dammit," Leon muttered as he felt hot coffee seep into his clothes. _Well there goes more money to the drycleaners, _he thought in frustration as he passed the now wet cup of coffee to his dry hand. Shaking his hand with more force than necessary, Leon continued forward to the main elevators that would take him up to the fifth floor, the Intelligence Unit.

Angrily Leon summoned the elevator and stood waiting, certain that his spilled coffee had every intention of permanently staining his leather jacket. As he stood waiting he sighed in frustration. Nothing had gone right this morning; his alarm clock had gone off late and his shower was unusually cold. Not to mention that he was out of creamer, making his coffee particularly bitter. However, all of that was minor in comparison to the general sense of unease he was feeling.

On that note the elevator finally arrived and Leon readily stepped in, hoping that someone up stairs had Kleenex ready or even a Tide to Go Pen. But the arrival of the elevator did little to settle his nerves. Leon had a strong sense that something was off; something was _wrong. _

"Why now, Ada? Why do you show up now?" Leon whispered to himself as the elevator chimed and closed. It seemed that no matter how hard he tried to forget last night's events, he couldn't. Ada's words hung heavily in his mind…she had given him a warning but about _what? _Her appearance at the Annual Governmental Ball had left him with many suspicions. However, it was not just her mysterious presence at the Ball that had him so on edge.

Upon arriving home the previous night, Leon had been highly disturbed to find evidence of a foreign in his home. Conveniently placed in the center of his bed was a small paper airplane. He'd immediately suspected it was Ada's handiwork but hadn't been certain until he had picked it up and studied it closely. Upon examination, it had revealed a bright red lipstick stain; a kiss just for him.

Before he opened it he had quickly searched the rest of his apartment in case she had left any other surprises for him…or in case she had actually hidden herself inside somewhere. The search revealed nothing; everything else was as he'd left it, which unnerved him even more. The fact that this woman seemed to be able to willfully penetrate his private life while only leaving behind evidence she wanted to be found, infuriated and fascinated him. The simple paper airplane—conveniently placed in the center of his bed—was like a love letter from a secret admirer. At the same time, it proved highly disturbing. She entered and exited his life like a passing wind; she was a ghost that only made herself known when she saw fit. For all he know she watched him sleep with a gun pointed to his head; in truth he had no idea when she could be lurking in the shadows, watching him.

When Leon had finally opened the carefully folded paper airplane, he'd been perplexed to see that it was a bank statement—an account summary. As he continued to examine the document he realized that it was a summary of account transfers. Leon paid close attention to the name of the primary account. After a moment of careful reading, Leon had come to a startling realization. The name on the primary account was the _U.S. National Security and Affairs Agency_—the agency _he _worked for.

Upon realizing this, Leon paid special attention to the various accounts that money was being transferred to. He only knew so much about the hierarchy of NSAA but did know that they divided in to several branches. Leon worked specifically for Investigative Affairs which focused on the investigation aspect of potential national security threats. The bank statement he was looking at seemed to be a summary of funds transferred to the various branches within the NSAA. As he skimmed through the list of transfers they all seemed appropriate except for one. Near the end of the statement there was a transfer to an unlisted account identified only as ' Account 4877'.The transfer was substantial; nearly two million dollars had been transferred from NSAA to whatever Account 4877 was. None of the other money transfers were that large and as far as Leon knew NSAA had no dealings with private accounts.

The discovery disturbed him; such a large sum of money going to what looked like a private account carried serious implications. The mere fact that it came from Ada meant that it had an alarming meaning; a meaning he wasn't quite sure of. Why did Ada have a bank statement from the mother agency of Investigative Affairs? And better yet, why was she giving it to him? Deep down he knew that Ada rarely acted without purpose; something serious must have been going on if she'd felt the need to reveal this.

After he'd finished reading the statement he'd hidden it away under one of the floor boards and had tried to go to sleep but it had evaded him. He couldn't shake that something was off and Ada's words haunted him as he lay awake in bed.

"_You're treading into dangerous waters."_

What did she know that he didn't? It didn't help that the memory of her words filled him with a longing that he had been all too familiar with since first meeting her at Raccoon City. The purr of her velvet voice, the silkiness of her bare skin, and the smirk in her dark eyes…he'd tossed and turned most of the night.

The elevator doors finally chimed and opened, pulling Leon away from his dark thoughts. Leon took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator, back into the real world. Various work stations were scattered about but Leon paid them no attention and quickly made his way to his own cubicle. Unlike many of his coworkers, Leon's workstation had few pictures adorning it. There were no children's drawings tacked on the walls or framed photographs of lovers or a favorite pet; it was simply organized and clean.

Leon stood in front of his workspace, setting his coffee mug down and began peeling off his soiled jacket. He had been so bound and determined to get to his desk that he had completely missed the slumped over Helena who sat in the cubicle near his. Leon slowed in his endeavors to remove his coat as he noticed the hung-over woman and recalled what he'd last seen of Helena. In his foul mood, he'd completely forgotten the fact that Helena and Piers had gotten downright drunk at last night's Ball. A small smile twitched at the corner of Leon's mouth, the first one he'd had all morning.

"So…how are you feeling this morning Helena?" Leon asked making sure to speak slightly louder than necessary.

Helena flinched at the sound of his voice and slowly rose from her slumped position to look at Leon. Her eyes were clearly bloodshot and dark circles that rarely marred her face were evident. She was on the paler side and her usually shiny, well groomed hair looked a little frizzed and frazzled. _Well she may be hung over__,__ but at least she doesn't have coffee down the front of her shirt, _Leon thought to himself in amusement.

"Good morning Leon," Helena mumbled and cracked a weak smile. "I'm feeling a little…under the weather."

Nodding and trying to hide the smirk that was growing, Leon replied, "That's too bad. Have you seen Piers? I would think he might be a little _under the weather _too."

As if he'd been waiting the entire time to hear his name mentioned, Piers abruptly walked over to Helena's side with a rather large cup of coffee in hand.

"Yeah, not feeling too hot today; went a little heavy on the tequila last night," Piers admitted and took a sip of the coffee.

"Maybe that's why _I'm_ not a party goer," Leon teased and grabbed a few Kleenex's that he had stashed on his desk. He began vigorously wiping at his stained shirt.

Helena snorted at Leon's remark. "Very funny. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go to the restroom." As Helena rose she finally took notice of Leon's stained pale blue business shirt. She carefully bent over to get under her desk to pull out her purse. After searching in it for a few moments she finally pulled out a Tide-to-Go Pen and tossed it to Leon, saying, "You look like you could use it."

"Thanks," Leon called as he watched her slide past Piers and head toward the bathroom. Leon's gaze gradually shifted from Helena's retreating form to Piers, who seemed to be intently watching her. "I'm guessing you handled the night better than she did," Leon remarked as he began to work on his shirt again.

"I think we might feel about the same," Piers replied while still watching Helena.

"Yeah?"

Piers finally turned away from the direction Helena had gone in, and looked back at Leon. "She just looks a little greener than me, that's all."

Leon chuckled and glanced up from his stained shirt to really examine the young man before him. Piers had a leaner build, not quite as lithe as Leon, but certainly on the leaner side. Leon didn't know Piers all that well; he knew that he had worked extensively with Chris and the BSAA before coming to the NSAA. He'd only met him briefly during that time and it had been a fairly tense situation, not one conducive for getting to know someone. Piers had only been actively working with the NSAA for the last few months and had primarily worked with Helena on orientation materials. Leon thought the two worked pretty well together and felt pleased that Piers seemed to be settling in given his recent history.

Over a year ago in June during the latest Bioterrorist attack Piers had been infected and nearly killed with the C-Virus; he had been prepared to sacrifice his own life to save Chris from certain death. The infection had been extensive, mutating his right arm beyond recognition and extending all the way up his neck and into his eye. Piers was hardly even human anymore but his mind had been untouched by the virus. While infected and a potential liability, he was still Piers Nivans. Chris had seen that and while Piers had almost succeeded in forcing Chris to leave without him, Chris ultimately managed to subdue Piers and they'd both narrowly escaped the underwater facility.

Although Piers had been rescued by Chris, the road to recovery was extensive. A vaccine was engineered using Jake Muellers blood and administered to Piers but the reversal process was lengthy. Piers had spent four months just recovering from the extent of the mutation. He essentially had to relearn how to use his hand and fingers since it had been an amorphous appendage not long before. While the vaccine had reversed the mutation, there were still elements of the transformation lingering in his body. Piers had regained his arm, neck, face, and eye, but he had extensive discoloration along his upper arm and chest. The texture there was different; it wasn't quite normal.

Even after Piers' mutation had been reversed he had to undergo rigorous rehab, physical therapy, and psychological counseling for PTSD. He'd been out for just over a year and had only recently returned. Due to the extent of his leave and the remaining recovery process, Piers had been transferred from the BSAA to the NSAA and paired with Helena. The two seemed to be working well together.

Leon nodded at Piers' response and continued dabbing at his shirt. He was starting to think that this coffee stain was never going to come out.

"So you know Helena pretty well…right?" Piers asked abruptly.

Leon blinked and glanced up from his shirt. "What?"

"You were partners for a while, right? So you must know her pretty well…" Piers rephrased.

"Sure I guess," Leon answered, not following Piers' line of questioning.

Piers nodded in thought and then asked, "So what's her deal?"

Leon stopped dabbing his shirt and raised an eyebrow. "What's her deal?" He repeated.

A sheepish little smile found its way on Piers' pouty lips. "Yeah you know…what's she like to do in her spare time? And I don't know, what kind of food does she like?"

"Well, I'm not exactly sure…Helena has always been very professional with me. Outside of work I don't know much about her. I think she might like to read…and she eats regular food…I guess." Leon stammered as he struggled to think what he knew of Helena outside their professional career. He was well versed in the sad story of her sister Debra, but in terms of her personal life he knew very little.

Piers stared at Leon as if in disbelief. "You've spent all this time working with her and you don't know any of that stuff?"

"Not really…" Leon admitted.

"I've been working with her for over two a month and I think I know more about her than you do!" Piers exclaimed.

Leon snorted, "Why ask then? Are you interested in seeing her in a manner that's _more_ than professional?_" _

"No, no, no I'm just…just trying to get to know my partner from someone who used to be in my shoes…that's all," Piers backpedaled. He then stepped away from Helena's workstation and began to whistle casually; a little too casually.

"Whatever you say buddy," Leon smirked to himself and returned to working on his shirt.

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom too…not feeling good and all," Piers murmured and quickly left the area. Leon could only continue to smile.

"Kennedy! In my office now!" A gruff voice called from across the room. Leon turned in that direction and saw the Investigative Affairs Manager, Nick Harrlson, glaring at him.

Sighing Leon put down Helena's Tide to Go Pen and headed in the managers direction. He wasn't sure what Harrlson would want with him this early. Usually they all gathered for a morning briefing and if individual assignments were needed they were assigned later in the day.

Leon stepped into Harrlson's office a few minutes later, shutting the door behind him. Shutting the door was useless however, since the walls were large windows allowing everyone to see in. Harrlson glared up from his desk at Leon; he was notorious for being cranky in the early hours of the day.

"What can I do for you Sir?" Leon asked in as neutral of a tone as he could manage.

Harrlson leaned back in his chair, his generous girth spilling over like a whale coming up for a gulp of air. He eyed Leon carefully for a moment before his gaze turned back to a manila folder on his desk. The chair rocked forward then, Harrlson moving with it. For a moment Leon thought Harrlson would fall forward from the momentum of the chair and knock his head into his ugly mahogany desk, but alas no such luck was had. Harrlson placed his hands on the folder in front of him and pushed it in Leon's direction.

"Got this in my mailbox this morning for you…some kind of specialty assignment from upstairs," Harrlson paused to stroke his white bristly mustache as if in thought, "Bastards think they're such hot shit…but that's beside the point Kennedy. I looked over the assignment and it looks like it's some waste of time research gig. Waste of your skills really," Harrlson mused and then was quiet.

While Harrlson was caught up in his own thoughts, Leon grabbed the folder and flipped it open. He managed to catch sight of a location before Harrlson spoke up again.

"Like I was saying, waste of your skills…but when the cash talks you go where it tells you to. So review the assignment, gather what you need to and then be on your way. Apparently time is essential with this job…damned if I know why, water samples and all…dismissed Kennedy," Harrlson muttered and waved his hand at Leon.

"I'll get right on it Sir," Leon said as he backed out of Harrlson's office.

As he walked back to his desk he glanced at the assignment. Apparently someone in one of the higher up offices wanted him to travel about 75 miles south to Virginia and collect water samples from a rural town. There was no explanation as to what he was looking for, just protocol on how to collect and store the samples. The only other thing that was stressed in the assignment was the time sensitive nature of the mission, but no explanation. As he continued to skim the assignment details one other detail caught his eye: under no circumstances was he to drink any of the local water.

"Odd," Leon murmured to himself as he slapped the folder shut. He needed to do a few things before he headed out, but he couldn't seem to shake the ominous feeling that had started in his gut after reading the peculiar instructions about the water. Once again Ada's cautioning words played through his head.

"_You're treading into dangerous waters…" _


	3. Qwills

**A/N:**

**Avogadro602**: Hello again. I'd like to thank everyone who's reading this; this chapter takes off a bit so hopefully you're in for a treat. Another big 'thank you' goes out to LoneWolf117 from Deviantart for allowing us to use his artwork as the cover for this story. His work is quite literally inspirational, as I used it in brainstorming a pretty huge plot twist in this story.

Also, we would appreciate any feedback anyone is willing to give! Let us know what you think. We'd be happy to hear from you.

Just a side note: The spelling of "Qwills" rather than "Quills" was intentional. We liked the distinction.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil belongs to Capcom. Trust me, if we were running things RE6 would've been a lot different. Cover artwork is by LoneWolf117 from Deviantart.

**Chapter 3: **

**Qwills **

The town of Qwills was simply put, a nothing town—just a collection of run down shacks and a dirt encrusted gas station nestled amongst thick pine trees. Most tourists drove through the town without even realizing they'd passed it. The few who did notice, generally sped away with a familiar disturbing banjo tune playing in the back of their minds.

At a population of 37, most of the town's occupants were close enough to be family. Of course, that was to be expected as most of the locals _were _family. To these people, blood ran far thicker than water. Outsiders were generally treated with a polite but nonetheless uneasy suspicion. It was no surprise then, when Leon pulled into the driveway of the first house and caught a glimpse of wary eyes peeking through the curtains.

Dry leaves and pine needles crunched under his feet as he stepped out of the car, throwing the door shut with an echoing slam. He glanced around the bare yard with a frown. The place was quiet, save for the wind and gentle groaning of the forest. Why on earth they'd sent him to this blip on the map he had no idea. He wanted to get in, get the samples, and get out. This place had a certain eerie quality to it, and walking into this town felt a little like walking off the grid… like he'd disappear if he stayed here too long. To be blunt, it gave him the creeps. He had a sneaking suspicion that his unease was from watching one too many horror movies, but instincts were instincts and he'd learned to trust his.

As he approached the house, he noticed a pair of rusty garden sheers sitting on the porch. Judging by the condition of the lawn, they hadn't been used in a long time. He shook off his disquiet and stepped up onto the small concrete stoop before knocking on the door. A few chips of paint flecked off onto his hand from the movement.

Several minutes passed before the door opened just wide enough to reveal the same muddy brown eye that had been peeking through the curtains earlier. "What do you want?" A course female voice answered.

"I'm from the Environmental Protection Agency," Leon quickly lied, regretting the fact that he had to at all. He hated lying to innocents, but it was necessary. As mentioned in the folder his supervisor had given him, this mission to collect _water samples _was apparently top secret. Ludicrous as it sounded, it was part of the job. "I'd like to come in and take some samples of your water, if that's alright with you."

The brown eye squinted at him through the crack and he smiled, trying to be convincing and friendly. "Alright, boy," the voice finally agreed, "You have an honest face. Come on in."

With a sudden jerk the door swung open to reveal a short old woman. She was smiling as sweetly at him as his own grandmother would have… and casually cradling a shotgun in her frail arms. It was pointed down, but Leon's hand twitched nervously against his own concealed firearm. He glanced between her and the weapon. "Ma'am?"

"Oh don't you worry about this old thing," she said nonchalantly, "I just use it to scare away those troublemaking Anderson boys." With that, she turned and waddled into the house.

Deciding not to question it, Leon followed behind her. She seemed harmless enough…

She led him into a small sitting area about the size of his bathroom. To his left sat a small loveseat with frayed and thinning fabric. It looked like it might've had a floral pattern once. He watched as she stashed the gun in a closet farther back in the tiny house. "Miss, if I could just—"

"Call me Grandma Marianne," the woman corrected as she shut the closet door and turned around. Now that she knew he wasn't one of those "Anderson boys", she seemed genuinely happy that he was here. He got the feeling that she didn't get many visitors.

"Alright, Marianne—"

"_Grandma _Marianne," She repeated with a shake of one thin finger.

"Grandma Marianne," Leon began again politely, "If you could just show me to your sink and any other drinking water you may have, I'll take my samples and be out of your hair in no time." He could clearly see the kitchen through an open doorway across from the couch, but couldn't make himself go in without asking for her permission first. He'd always had a hard time disobeying motherly figures.

"Nonsense," Grandma Marianne insisted, "What's a handsome young man like yourself doing in such a rush? Slow down; take a little time to enjoy yourself!" She clasped her hands in front of herself and shook her head. "I swear, young folks nowadays don't know how to enjoy the journey. Always got their nickers in a twist tryin' to _get there _already and complainin' somethin' sour when _there _turns out to smell worse than where they come from." She shook her head suddenly and smiled at him, gesturing at the couch. "Why don't you sit down? I'll make you some tea."

Leon shook his head but sat down anyway, unable to restrain himself from at least partially obliging her. "I'm sorry, but I'm not thirsty."

Grandma Marianne started teetering her way toward the kitchen anyway. "Then I'll get you that water you've been on about. You just stay there and make yourself comfortable."

Leon sat awkwardly on the sagging couch, twiddling his thumbs. Through the open doorway he watched Grandma Marianne pull out a glass from a low shelf in the cupboard and fill it up with tap water, before setting that aside and returning to the cupboard. She strained futilely to reach a teapot on the top shelf.

Frowning, Leon stood and quickly walked over. "Here, let me," he mumbled as he easily grabbed the teapot and handed it to her.

She breathed heavily as she recovered from the mild exertion. "Thank you, young man. You're far more of a gentleman than my sons ever were."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Leon replied as he discretely made his way toward the cup of water.

Her eyes narrowed on him as he pulled out a small plastic vial. "This ain't about that flu that's goin' around, is it?"

Leon, who'd been about to collect his first sample paused. "What flu?"

"That flu everyone's been complainin' about since the Ryerson's had that big shindig last Friday," she explained and busied herself with filling up the teapot. "All those kids rubbing noses together… it's no wonder they're sick." She huffed in disgust and moved the teapot over to the stove.

"How are they sick?" he asked, rapt with attention.

"Well," she began, "I ran into Mrs. Dumont at the grocery, and her kids are all out with a fever. She didn't look the greatest herself, either. Complained something fierce about a headache… By the sounds of it, half the town's got this bug. Never been so glad about bein' too old to go to a party in my life…" She trailed off before her eyes focused on Leon once more. "It's about that flu, ain't it?"

He shook his head absently and finished collecting his sample. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about a flu, ma'am," he answered honestly. With the sample collected, he backed toward the door. "I hope you have a nice day, Marianne."

"It's _Grandma _Marianne," she called as he left, "And good luck with your water!"

Leon headed out to his car with a frown etched in his forehead. He had no idea if the water samples he was taking and this flu epidemic were related at all, but the news set him on edge. It hadn't made sense as to why they hadn't sent someone with more technical expertise, but with this information a sickening thought came to mind. Perhaps they wanted someone with a _different _type of expertise… like in handling biological warfare?

_Or, _his rational mind told himself, _they just ran out of techs and knew I was available._

Either way, he had at least four more visits to make and he had better get to it. Leon pulled out of the drive and started to head toward the second house on his list. After all, he had no reason as of yet to feel so uneasy. Maybe it'd be as simple as it sounded…

* * *

><p>As it turned out, the Dumont children were, in fact, sick. The notable exception was the youngest child, who had bounced on the couch next to Leon and pulled at his hair during the entire visit. Their mother had feebly scolded her son and stared at Leon with a weary expression, a hand pressed to her temple. Once he'd explained what he was doing there, the woman had led him to the sink and he'd gotten the sample and gotten out of there without another hitch.<p>

Leon met the Ryerson's on his fourth visit. Linda Ryerson had greeted him at the door and invited him inside. The room he stepped into was dark. A quiet groan immediately had him going tense as scenes of Raccoon City flashed before his eyes. "Sorry about the dark," Linda whispered, impervious to his reaction, "My husband is sick and the light bothers him. If you'll follow me, I'll—"

" …the hell's goin' on?" a low, hoarse voice boomed from the darkness. "Who's here?"

As Leon's eyes began to adjust, he made out a dark figure on the couch. "It's just a man who's here to take samples of our water, honey," Linda replied in a soothing voice, "He's from the Environmental Protection—"

"I don't care the fuck where he's from," the dark figure growled, "Just get him out of here already. It's too loud."

Linda had silently ushered Leon into the kitchen and shut the door behind her.

"Sorry about that," she apologized as she directed him to the sink. "Robert's really not himself when he's sick…"

"It's just fine, Mrs. Ryerson," Leon replied as he capped the plastic sample tube. "I'll try to get out of your way as soon as possible."

Linda Ryerson leaned back on the counter, her shoulders sagging. "I've just been so worn out lately… must be from planning our anniversary party… I must've invited half the town."

Leon was reminded of Grandma Marianne's gossip, and he straightened. "If you don't mind my asking, were there any beverages served your party?"

Seeing where he was going, Linda nodded. "Yes, we had Lemonade. We still have some of it, if you would like to take a sample."

"Yes, please." Leon may not have been trained as a scientist, but he wasn't stupid. There was an obvious connection between their party and this flu epidemic, and he had a feeling that this mission might hinge on a sample of that lemonade. "Where is it?"

She bit her lip and glanced at the door. "The last of it is in the other room… It's in a pitcher on the table, in front of my husband."

Leon wilted. "Oh. Is it going to be a problem if…?"

"I'm sure it'll be fine," she assured him nervously, "Just be quick, and please try not to disturb him."

A baby started crying near the back of the house.

"Linda!" Robert's voice yelled from the other room, "Shut him up!"

She sighed. "I have to take care of that," she mumbled and stepped out of the room, leaving him to get the sample himself.

"Great," Leon muttered under his breath and steeled his nerves. The mantra he'd been repeating over and over again in his head today played through his mind: _Get in, get the sample, __**get out**__. _Cautiously he opened the door and slid through. The man on the couch groaned loudly and began whimpering as light from the kitchen hit him. _Sorry, _Leon whispered internally, too afraid of disturbing him more to actually say it.

Quietly he approached the coffee table. As he reached its side, Robert went silent. In the dark, he could just make out the reflection of the man's eyes. Leon could not see where he was looking, but he felt the man's stare as he reached toward the pitcher. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up.

Leon grabbed the pitcher.

"Get out," Robert rasped, "Get—" A horrible choking noise interrupted him as he tried to speak.

Leon tried to use the pause to his advantage, and took out the plastic collection tube. The sooner he finished he could leave, or (by the sounds of the man in front of him) possibly call an ambulance for Robert.

The man slammed his hand against the coffee table and Leon jumped back, immediately switching from polite houseguest to trained professional. "Sir, I'm going to need you to calm down."

"_Get the fuck out of my house!" _Robert roared. Dribbles of spittle caught on his chin.

Leon's face tightened. Whatever reason they had for sending him on this mission, the agency would want that lemonade. It would take him _seconds _to get. He again reached for the pitcher, hoping to distract Robert long enough to get a sample. "Sir, I just need to—"

He was cut off as Robert threw the coffee table at him. The _entire _coffee table. Leon's collection tube slipped out of his fingers and the Lemonade pitcher was thrown to the floor.

The table hit Leon in the chest and knocked him backward. While it wasn't moving fast enough to do any major damage, it _was _enough to leave him momentarily dazed. He recovered in seconds and shoved the furniture off of him, but by then Robert had stumbled over to him. Robert practically fell on top of him as his hands clumsily reached out and found Leon's neck. The man's hands were uncomfortably hot on Leon's skin and he grasped at them futilely for a moment before his training kicked in.

Leon's leg slammed upward and he used his momentum to throw the man up and over his head. As soon as he was free, Leon rolled to his feet. His gun came out the instant he was standing and he quickly backed toward the door. Robert, stunned and drunk with his sickness, lay moaning on the carpet. Using one hand to open the door and one to hold his gun, he backed out of the house. As soon as the door was shut he holstered his gun and pulled out his phone, speed dialing the agency.

"This is Agent Kennedy. I've run into a problem."

* * *

><p>They arrived within minutes, which was the first thing that alarmed him. He'd expected to get a little backup, or maybe an order to wait until the local authorities arrived. What he hadn't expected was a SWAT team in hazmat suits. There must have been a dozen, all standing out like sore thumbs in their brightly colored suits. At least six of them barged past him and headed straight into the house, training a gun on every occupant. Poor Linda kneeled next to her husband on the living room floor, holding her baby to her chest and crying.<p>

Leon grabbed the arm of one of the men with an outraged expression. "Is this really necessary?"

The man shoved him off without a word and the remaining suited men ushered him out of the house. After they'd cleared the stoop, two of them grabbed his arms and forcefully directed him to the back of their van.

"Hey!" Leon protested as he jerked out of their arms. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Standard safety precautions," the suited man on his left answered. The other opened the van doors and started searching for something.

"Standard safety precautions?" Leon echoed with raised eyebrows. "I think I've been around long enough to know that _hazmat suits_ aren't standard safety precautions." Not to mention SWAT teams…

The man to his right finally found whatever he was looking for and turned around. "We need to know: Did you ingest any liquids while in the area, or have any bodily fluid transfers? Bites, maybe?"

_Bites? _Leon repeated in his head. This was all sounding far too familiar. He searched both men's faces as they waited for him expectantly. "No," he answered slowly.

The agent on his right nodded. "Alright, but I'm still going to need to run some tests." He held out a plastic tube very similar to the one Leon had used earlier. "I'm going to need you to spit in this."

Leon frowned at the tube, but reluctantly took it and did as he was told. "Do I get to know what you're testing me for?"

The first suited man, the one on his left, straightened. "That's above your pay grade," he answered.

Leon's eyes narrowed. "I'm a government agent and this is _my mission. _How could it be above my pay grade?"

Leon's spit tube snapped closed with a _'pop!' _and the agent on his right stashed it away. Seconds later he produced a syringe. Leon rolled his eyes. "Let me guess. You need a blood sample, too?"

He nodded and Leon reluctantly stuck out his arm. He glared at the man on his right as the needle pricked his skin. "Just what are these people sick _with_?"

For the first time, the man on his right actually looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Agent Kennedy, but that's classified. And I'm afraid we also have to request you allow us to quarantine you until these results come back."

Leon let out a long sigh. "I see."

His eyes dulled slightly as he resigned himself to follow them. That "request_" _was code for _you don't have a choice. _He was only given this illusion of choice out of courtesy for a fellow agent. Idly he wondered what would happen if he refused… Would they point a gun at his head, like they had done to Linda Ryerson?

Whatever was hiding in the waters of Quills, it must've been bad.

* * *

><p>They'd taken him to a small white room at the Agency and locked him in for two agonizingly long hours. He'd spent the majority of the time trying to figure out what he'd write in the report for this case. By the time they finally let him out, it'd been well past his clock-out time and he'd wearily driven home. His supervisor would be getting a word from him tomorrow, though he didn't expect to get real answers.<p>

Sometimes, having this job meant you didn't ask questions.

Leon stepped into his small apartment just as the sun dipped below the horizon. He flipped a switch and the bare white walls flooded with light. He'd never really bothered to decorate, which left the place looking a little empty. When his job could order him to leave at a moment's notice, what was the point? A bed, a couch, and a TV were all he really needed in his rare off hours, anyway.

He walked over to his fridge and opened it, pulling out a beer before kicking it closed with his foot. With the cool beverage in hand he headed toward his couch, his feet dragging all the way. What a day…

Leon twisted the cap off his beer and pressed the power button on his remote. The TV flickered to life, still on the local news channel he'd left it on. It was oddly soothing to hear about normal, everyday problems. Ordinary people didn't have to worry about viruses that could revive the dead or the constant threat of biological warfare. For a while, watching this, he could pretend to be almost as blissfully unaware as the rest of them. He took a swig of his drink and sank back into the couch, rolling the knots out of his shoulders.

Right now they were talking about a local charity that helped orphaned kittens find good homes. _Oh yeah, _he thought, silently grinning, _that's the good stuff. _Who wanted to think about bioterrorism when you could think about kittens?

After covering the orphan kitten story, they moved on to current events. The local school district was going to elect a new board member… there would be a new traffic law in effect next Friday… Leon felt his eyes begin to droop less than fifteen minutes in. After he caught himself dozing, he reached for the remote. Sometime while he'd been drifting off they'd moved onto a more pressing story about an oil tanker crash. He'd missed the beginning, but by the looks of it the truck had slipped on the wet roads and gone up in flames, apparently taking an entire town with it. _Hm, _he thought, _how sad. _Videos played of billowing smoke drifting up from a large forest. He frowned and aimed the remote at the TV, but his finger paused over the power button as he heard the female news anchor's next words.

"…tragedy has completely wiped the town of Qwills off the map…"

He sat up straight, suddenly wide awake.

"Experts say that weather was likely a factor in the crash, and that safe driving practices can't be stressed enough."

They cut to a video of a man with grey hair who claimed to be this expert. "What we need is more training for professional truckers. They need to be aware of just how dangerous wet roads can be."

The image switched back to her. "The crash is estimated to have taken place at 4 pm this afternoon. Sadly, there were no survivors. In other news, the upcoming election…"

Leon numbly switched it off. In the silence that followed, a cold chill ran up his spine. At 4 pm today, he'd been being dragged out of that very town. And into _quarantine. _There was no way it wasn't a coincidence.

The woman's words replayed through his head: "_Sadly, there were no survivors."_

Something dangerous had been spreading in Qwills. Now Qwills was in flames, and everyone he'd spoken to today was dead. Grandma Marianne, those kids that pulled his hair, Linda Ryerson and her baby….dead.

Sometimes, this job meant not asking questions. Other times, it meant demanding answers and living with the consequences.


	4. Around the Water Cooler

**A/N: **

**NeuroticBanana: **Howdy everyone! Well I hope you do all enjoy this most recent chapter. Please read and review and have a great read! Thank you to anyone who has reviewed so far, we do love reviews since they offer inspiration and all. So thanks!

**Avogadro602: **Hope you enjoy the chapter! Again, we appreciate any and all reviews!

Disclaimer: We do not own Resident Evil or its characters. But we do own _our _characters. Long live Grandma Marianne!

**Chapter 2:**

**Around the Water Cooler**

"I need answers Nick, and I need them now," Leon exclaimed as he stormed into Harrlson's office.

Ever since he'd heard the news the previous night, Leon had eagerly awaited coming into work and confronting Harrlson. He'd hardly slept a wink because he was so hyped up.

Looking over a pair of aged reading glasses, Harrlson gazed up at Leon with surprise. His face was its normal rusty red color and mustache bushy as ever. Leon crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for Harrlson to come up with a response. He watched as Harrlson slowly removed his reading glasses and gently hung them from his shirt.

"Well Leon I 'spose it would help if I _knew _whatanswers you were seeking," Harrlson replied, smoothing his hands over his ever growing waistline.

"Don't bullshit me Harrlson." Leon paused to give Harrlson a meaningful stare, "First you give me this ridiculous water sample assignment out in the boondocks with half of the town sick with some mysterious cold. And then Qwills gets wiped off the damn map? Don't just sit there and pretend you don't know what I'm talking about."

Harrlson's already russet colored face darkened a bit at Leon's irate tone.

"You're not gonna believe me when I say this, but honest to God I don't know what happened. Only thing I know for sure is that the higher ups sent down an order for _you _to travel to Qwills and collect water samples. That's it," Harrlson stated.

Leon huffed in frustration and lowered his gaze to the floor. He'd worked for Harrlson long enough to know when the man was bluffing and when he wasn't. While Leon wanted to believe that Harrlson knew something more, he knew the answer he'd been given rang true.

Sighing with frustration, Leon said, "None of what happened there could be a coincidence, Nick."

"It ain't my place to agree with you, but I'd lying if I said it didn't smell fishy," Harrlson added thoughtfully. He gently stroked his mustache as if it soothed him.

"I don't get it…what kind of illness warrants the extermination of an entire town?" Leon murmured as he lowered himself into the chair in front of Harrlson's desk. "It's not like it was the T-virus."

Still stroking his mustache, Harrlson asked, "Did you get a chance to put together your final report?"

"No," Leon answered his mind elsewhere.

"Well I'd be interested in reading it, because I have the official report from upstairs…and it might be illuminatin' to compare the two," Harrlson mused. Leon's eyes snapped back to Harrlson's rusty colored face.

"What'd it say? How'd they explain away quarantining a whole town?" Leon asked his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Harrlson's mouth twitched in the slightest of smiles. "Well you should know better than anyone else, I can't share reports from the bosses upstairs with you," Harrlson paused briefly to lean forward and eye Leon carefully, "but I will say off the record that there might be some gibberish in the report that talked about a possible diphtheria outbreak."

Leon scoffed at that statement. Diphtheria was an obvious cover; they wouldn't call _him_ in to investigate a possible diphtheria outbreak. Someone from the CDC would be on that, not an organization that primarily investigated national security biological threats.

"That's bullshit and you know it," Leon growled crossing his arms again. "I suppose they didn't mention anything about the fact that Qwills was conveniently obliterated after they packed up and left?"

"That would be a correct assumption," Harrlson said and leaned back in his chair. Leon watched in annoyance as Harrlson's girth jiggled in time with the rocking of his chair. This conversation was not going the way he had planned it.

"Someone's got their hands in this Nick, and we're a government agency that's _not _supposed to be dirty. This whole situation is wrong," Leon stated as he rose from his chair and headed for the door to Harrlson's office. Just as his hand closed around the doorknob Harrlson spoke.

"Every government agency, regardless of how honest it claims to be, has dirty laundry. You've been in this game long enough to know that, kid."

Harrlson's office door swung open and Leon stepped out, trying desperately to push Harrlson's words away from his mind. He knew what the old man said was true but he didn't want to believe that the agency he worked for could justify the annihilation of an entire town.

As Leon left Harrlson's office and began walking back to his desk he brooded silently. The walk was a short one but with every step he took he grew more and more frustrated. Why would a government agency, which was made to protect, try to cover up a little cold? What could they be hiding that was so important that innocent lives needed to be lost? What dirty little mess had they gotten their hands in to?

Leon briefly stopped at the water cooler on his way to his desk. As he filled up a small glass of water he caught sight of Piers and Helena across the room chatting. Since he was internally focused on his own thoughts he really didn't catch much of what they were saying to each other, but bits and pieces of their conversation did manage to briefly capture his attention.

"…thoughtful of you to walk me home," Leon heard Helena say quietly. He wondered what the rest of that sentence had been.

"Well I was out, and you looked like you could use the company," Piers admitted sheepishly.

Leon left the water cooler and began walking to his desk coming ever closer to the pair.

"I didn't know you went jogging in that area….well actually, I didn't know you even jogged," Helena admitted.

"Yeah, I've been jogging regularly since I started working here. Docs thought that it was a good way for me stay physically healthy as well as vent, considering everything that happened…" Piers murmured quietly.

"I've never used it that way myself. It might be something I should try in the future."

After a brief hesitation, Piers cautiously added, "You and I could try it together sometime. Sometimes it helps if you have another runner with you; a support person."

In the quietest of voices, Helena replied, "I might take you up on that."

Leon was at his desk now, and an arm's length away from where Piers and Helena stood talking. He'd overheard part of their conversation and while a part of him was curious a larger part of him really didn't care what was going on with them; he had bigger fish to fry.

Rather loudly, Leon pulled out his chair and sat down in it. The abruptness of his return and noisiness of it immediately caught Pier's and Helena's attention. Leon glanced briefly at them and was surprised to see embarrassment on their faces. They looked like a pair of teenagers who'd been caught making out by their parents. Even in his foul mood, Leon couldn't help but crack a smile.

"I'll talk with you later Helena," Piers said and started to walk away.

"Piers," Helena called. Piers stopped in mid stride and ever so slightly turned his head to the side so that he could see Helena. "Maybe we can do lunch together today."

"That'd be nice," Piers said straight faced and began heading back to his desk. Just as he'd turned his face away from Helena, Leon caught the briefest glimpse of a school boy grin on his face. Smiling herself, Helena sat down at her desk and began to work on a report.

Leon briefly wondered if there was something more going on between the two than simple friendship, but quickly banished the idea and once again started brooding about yesterday's assignment. There was some bigger picture that he couldn't see just yet. If there was corruption within the NSAA he wanted to know about it. If he'd learned anything from the events of Raccoon City and Umbrella, it was that corruption ran thick and deep.

"What's bothering you Leon?" Helena asked, breaking Leon out of his thoughts.

"W-What?" Leon stuttered.

Scooting her chair a little closer to Leon, Helena repeated, "I asked you what was wrong."

"Oh it's nothing…just the assignment I had yesterday. Got a bad vibe is all," Leon lied.

A small, knowing smile made its home on Helena's lips. "I know you too well to believe that answer."

Leon sighed; she was right, they weren't friends outside the work place and he didn't know her in a nonprofessional manner, but they had been through enough to know when the other one was lying. He didn't want to let her in on the whole scenario for fear of causing her trouble in the long run, but he could at least get her opinion on the situation.

"You know the assignment I did yesterday? Well I ran into a few complications while on it."

Helena raised an eyebrow. "What kind of complications?" Leon gave her a brief rundown on his assignment and the events that had taken place. He left out his conversation with Harrlson and the degree to which the biological hazard techs had tested him.

"Wow…that's a lot to happen in one day," Helena murmured and was quiet for several minutes.

"It just feels wrong, you know? I was supposed to go out there to collect water samples and nothing else and then everything goes to hell," Leon said, defeated. For several minutes neither one said anything; they simply sat in silence.

Leon felt a pat on his back and looked up to see Helena's reassuring face staring at him.

"I agree with you; there is something very off about the whole situation. I don't think it was an ordinary field investigation they sent you on. There's a bigger picture here that we aren't seeing."

"I just wish I could see _what _that picture is…there are pieces to the puzzle that I don't have and therefore can't solve it. If our company _is _directly involved, no one around here is going to be a big help."

Helena rolled back over to her desk and seemed to resume going back over her reports when suddenly her head popped back up and said, "Too bad you aren't in contact with that Ada woman. I bet she would know something we don't."

"Ada…?" Leon whispered to himself suddenly, remembering red-clad woman at the masquerade.

"Yeah, she always seemed to be one step ahead of us when we were working against Simmons. That woman should be an information broker with how much dirt she has on people."

Leon stopped paying attention to anything else Helena said as his mind wandered to that night at the Ball. The delicate butterfly mask she'd worn was vivid in his memory; the crimson red of her dress and the satiny feel under his fingers. _She warned me things weren't what thy seemed…what do you know Ada? _

In that moment, he knew it. Somehow, Ada was tied to this whole situation. Whenever Ada appeared in his life something bad was always on the horizon. Ada was the key to solving this puzzle he'd been given. If he could find her, he could get to the bottom of this whole mess and put it behind him.

"Kennedy," Harrlson's loud voice pulled him from his thoughts.

Leon turned his gaze in the direction of the voice. To his surprise Harrlson was standing right in front of his desk. Harrlson hardly ever made his way out of his office, probably because it meant he had to button up his pants. It was a well-known fact among the office that Harrlson liked to unbuckle his belt and unbutton pants while he sat at his desk. There was a rumor that Harrlson's wife liked to buy pants that were too small for him to encourage him to lose weight. If this was true, then it was a failed attempt.

"Yes sir?" Leon answered wondering what could possibly be important enough to drag Harrlson out of his office.

"Look, I thought about our conversation this morning and I think you should take the rest of the day off. Don't worry about having to clock out; I'll take care of it. Consider it a paid holiday….well sort of, more like bereavement," Harrlson explained.

Leon raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I'm not sure I follow."

"Well, it's not like you knew all those folks out at Qwills too well, but I'm sure their deaths came as a shock seein' as how you got to know them. So in light of that, please take the rest of the day off. You need some time to take it in," Harrlson quietly clarified.

"Okay…" Leon muttered and nodded at Harrlson who smiled and began to head back to his office, no doubt eager to unbuckle his belt and unbutton his pants.

"Helen—" Leon stopped as he realized that Helena had vanished from her desk. He wondered where she had gone before he dismissed it and gathered his belongings and left.

On his way out of the office he continued to think about the situation, specifically about Ada. What did she know and what had she been trying to tell him other than a warning? How exactly was Ada tied to this? The thought of her being somehow intermingled with NSAA was a disturbing thought. Ada almost always seemed too involved with dirty organizations and extremely shady operations. What was the NSAA doing that drew the attention of someone like Ada, who only seemed to be attracted to the most dangerous and seediest of assignments?

As Leon stepped outside the office building and into the parking lot the sunlight made him squint his eyes. Rain had been the most common seasonal precipitate so far, so the sun was a bit unexpected. It was a nice change, though.

Just as Leon had his car keys in hand, the sound of a very familiar woman's laugh made him pause. Leon lowered his keys and turned in the direction of the laughter. He was almost certain he recognized it. His eyes darted around the parking lot and then across the street to a small ice cream vendor. Leon fervently searched the patrons seated at the vendors sitting area but nothing stuck out. Just as he was about to give up, he caught sight of a red blouse; a red like the color Ada always wore.

Before he could even think about it, Leon's feet began carrying him across the parking lot and street to the vendor. He couldn't see the head that belonged to the red shirt or much of the body; it was mostly obscured by a big bulky man, but he felt _certain _it was Ada.

_Taunting me again Ada? I'll catch you this time_, Leon thought to himself as he darted across the busy street and to the ice cream vendor. He was just a few feet away from the woman in red when suddenly the big bulky man stepped completely out of the way revealing all of the woman to him. Leon stopped dead in his tracks as he took in the sight. The shirt was indeed an Ada's favorite red color, but unlike Ada's tastes for dark and sultry, this woman had on cream colored slacks and practical shoes. The physique was athletic, but not Ada's, and the hair was all wrong. It was long and free flowing around the woman's shoulders and a dark blonde in color. He'd been so certain it was her…

"Leon! What are you doing here?" Asked a familiar male voice. Leon raised his gaze from the woman's blondish hair and to the owner of the familiar voice. He was once again surprised to discover that the big bulky man was none other than Chris Redfield.

"Chris?" Leon questioned, confusion heavy in his voice.

The woman in red now turned around as well, revealing herself to be Jill Valentine. _Wonders never cease,_ Leon thought to himself.

"Hello Leon," Jill said softly. There was a faint blush in her cheeks.

"Jill," Leon nodded and then blinked as he retook in the scene before him. Yes, he'd thought the woman in red was Ada which was odd enough, however now he realized that the scene before him was a bit peculiar. Chris and Jill together at an ice cream parlor? They'd acted plenty weird at the masquerade…could this be a date? Had the two _finally _settled into a romantic relationship?

"So…what are you two doing here?" Leon questioned, a smirk threatening to reveal itself in the corner of his mouth.

Chris and Jill looked at each other; Chris automatically began shaking his head and Jill stayed quiet but kept her eyes on Chris as if waiting for a cue.

"Piers. I was coming to see Piers," Chris stammered.

"I was just getting some ice cream because it's such a lovely day," Jill blurted out rather quickly after Chris's response.

Leon nodded, not believing them at all. "Okay…so why is Chris buying two ice cream cones?" The pair in front of him shifted awkwardly and exchanged nervous expressions. "For that matter, why are you two _holding hands?"_

Silence followed.


	5. Somebody's Girlfriend

**A/N:**

**Avogadro602**: Thanks for reading! A little fun this chapter, then a couple hints at what's really going on… Let us know if you like it.

Disclaimer: Resident Evil belongs to Capcom. Cover artwork is by LoneWolf117 from Deviantart.

**Chapter 5: **

**Somebody's Girlfriend **

All eyes fell to the tightly clasped hands between Jill and Chris. After a _long _pause, Chris looked back up to Leon with a carefully composed expression. "So it would appear that we are. I hadn't actually noticed."

Leon suppressed a laugh. "So… are you two here _together?"_

Chris cleared his throat. "What? No. No, _of_ _course _not. We're not here together, right Jill?" He looked toward his companion, who began nodding emphatically.

"Right," Jill agreed.

"We just…. _happened _to bump into each other. Jill here was just—"

"—getting ice cream," Jill finished for him, "And I ran out of change, so Chris here was kind enough to pay for mine."

"That's right." Chris nodded in agreement, mirroring Jill's earlier movements. The cone Chris held was beginning to melt onto his hand but he remained oblivious.

"I see," Leon replied skeptically. He nodded towards their still entwined fingers. "And the hands?"

A thin line of worry cracked on Chris's composed brow. You'd think the man hadn't faced hordes of Zombies before without flinching. "I always hold hands when I get ice cream. I held hands with Piers the last time I was here. Didn't he tell you? Everybody in the BSAA does it."

Jill elbowed him in the ribs and mumbled something out the side of her mouth that sounded suspiciously like "Too much."

Leon squinted at him. "…okay then," he eventually answered, "But you know if you guys _were _on a date, it wouldn't be the end of the world. In fact, I'd say it's probably about time…"

Jill let out a defeated sigh before facing Leon directly. "This is starting to get ridiculous; I think it's about time we come clean. Chris and I—"

"We're not dating!" Chris insisted, interrupting Jill and making her roll her eyes, "It'd be…." He coughed nervously into his elbow, "…unprofessional. And who'd want to date Jill anyway? I wouldn't _dream _of dating her!"

The glare Jill sent him could have killed millions.

"I-I mean…" Chris spluttered, "It's not as if I don't find her attractive. I mean the things she can do with her thighs…"

Jill's eyes narrowed further.

Chris flushed and turned to face her alone, shutting Leon out of the conversation completely. "Fighting people. I was talking about fighting people. You know, snapping necks with your legs?"

Jill dropped his right hand and tore the ice cream cone from his left. "We'll talk about this in the car," she hissed and turned on her heel.

Chris sighed through clenched teeth and watched her walk away. "Shit."

Behind him the street vendor tapped his shoulder; he'd been holding Chris's finished cone for more than five minutes. Reluctantly Chris took the cone and turned to Leon. "Tell Piers to start answering my calls," he instructed before marching off in the direction Jill had disappeared. After a few steps he turned and looked back. "And Leon, remember: you didn't see anything here."

"Sure thing, Chris," he replied soberly, but started chuckling quietly once Chris had his back turned. He wondered what all the fuss was about. Now that Chris was retired, those two had nothing to stop them.

With his hands in his pockets and a small smirk on his face, he headed back across the street to his car. He was pretty sure he'd been thinking about something important a minute ago, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was.

* * *

><p><em>A day off, <em>Leon thought to himself as he drove home, _a real day off._ It was unusual. The last time had been… what? Mandatory leave after the incidents in China? Of course there'd been the time off he'd taken for his family Christmas party, but that didn't count. Holidays at his parent's house kept him just as busy as he was at work.

He'd grown mildly excited at the prospect of having free time to himself as he'd parked his car and walked into his apartment building. _Why don't I ever take a day off now and then? _He wondered to himself. _I know I must have _more _than enough time built up… _It wasn't until Leon had stepped into his apartment, tossed his keys onto the counter and been greeted by the quiet ticking of the clock on his kitchen wall that he realized how silly his line of thought was.

There was a reason he never took time off, and it was simple: he had no idea what to do with himself. Work had taken over his life so long ago that he'd forgotten what he did for fun beyond watching the news and going to the gym.

With a sigh, he braced his hands on the counter and leaned on his arms. "What now?" he asked aloud. The same ticking clock was his only answer. He frowned. "Maybe I should get a dog," he muttered under his breath and pushed off the counter. At least with a dog he wouldn't be stuck talking to himself. Didn't he have any hobbies?

He walked over to his fridge and looked inside out of habit. Beer, milk, eggs… He tossed the door shut, still frowning. That hadn't been very enlightening. With a sigh, he started heading for his living room. Maybe the news was on…

* * *

><p>Leon was half an hour into an episode of <em>Jerry Springer <em>and knuckle deep in a bag of Doritos when his phone buzzed. He wiped the orange film coating his fingers onto his pant leg and reached for his phone. "Hello?" he answered, carefully shifting the device to his shoulder so that he could continue eating.

"Leon?" Sherry's surprised voice rang out on the other line. "I thought I'd get your voicemail. Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

"Turns out I've got the day off," he replied. A woman on the TV started fighting with her sister for sleeping with her husband. The horribly staged catfight turned into a half-naked brawl as both of their tops _conveniently _ripped off. Leon snorted. "It's a long story. I'll tell you about it later. So what'd you call about?"

"The guys at Washington are having a conference with my division," she announced happily, "So as of now, I'm in town on business! I was thinking we could go out tonight and have a couple drinks, but if you're free now…"

"Sure," he agreed and dipped a chip into a precariously balanced bowl on the cushion next to him. "I'm not busy." The bowl tipped to the side and spilled a creamy brown substance onto his couch. He cursed under his breath.

"Leon?" Sherry's voice was laced with concern. "Everything alright?"

"It's fine," he snapped as he rushed to retrieve the paper towels from the kitchen, "I'm just in the middle of doing something…feel free to come over if you want."

She hesitated. "Are you sure? I don't want to interrupt you…"

He let out a dry laugh. "Trust me Sherry. You're not interrupting."

"If you say so, then I'll be over in ten."

* * *

><p>"Leon?" Sherry called as she stepped inside. "You weren't answering so I let myself in. I hope you don't mind—" She came to a standstill when she spotted him on the couch. Her eyes fell to the orange smear on his pants and then to the brown dip in the bowl. "Eww," she exclaimed with a grimace, "Is that chocolate sauce? With Doritos?"<p>

Leon looked up at her and grinned. "Hey Sherry."

She glanced to the TV and wrinkled her nose. "Jerry Springer? Leon, you _really _need to get out more often…"

He laughed and patted the seat next to him, now clean of chocolate dip. "You're welcome to join me, unless you can come up with any better ideas. I'm fresh out."

She rolled her eyes but sat down anyway. "Seriously, we need to find something better for you to do in your spare time. Don't you have any hobbies?"

"I can't remember," he joked and then shrugged. "You know how it is. Work tends to take over." His mind drifted back to the previous day's events and he frowned, forcefully pushing the thoughts away. He was _not _working right now.

Sherry studied his expression carefully. "Something bothering you?"

He leaned back into the couch and absently wiped his hands off again. "I'm alright."

Her brow creased. "You seem troubled." The girl was perceptive. Or perhaps, despite years of training he was just an open book.

He faltered a moment, debating on telling her about his experiences at Qwills. "Well…I had this assignment yesterday…"

"What's bothering you about it?"

_I shouldn't involve her in this, _he thought to himself, but couldn't resist voicing a question that had been eating at him for some time now. "Sherry, back in China…did you have any idea that Simmons was dirty?"

The question took her by surprise. Her head cocked to the side in thought and she absently flicked a piece of feathery blonde hair out of her face. When he'd first seen the short haircut it had reminded him of Ada. Of course with Sherry's angelic face and sweet disposition, the two were nothing alike… Though he couldn't help but wonder if _maybe _she'd based the style after fleeting memories of a mysterious woman from her childhood. That is, if she remembered the red-clad woman at all. She'd been very young, after all…

"I'm ashamed to say it," Sherry finally answered, breaking him from his thoughts, "But I didn't have a clue until people started dying."

Leon stared at the counter, his expression darkening. People were _already _dead. His mind drifted to Grandma Marianne and he felt a dull pang of grief. _Someone _had ordered that town to be wiped off the map. Orders like that took power, and a lot of it. Ada's blood red lips flashed across his memory and whispered her warning:

"_You're treading into dangerous water, Leon."_

His eyes narrowed. Yeah, he was definitely treading water. And there was a shark swimming in it.

"Leon?" Sherry called, once again bringing him back to earth. "Why do you ask? Is something wrong?"

He looked at her again and bit back his answer. Behind the capable woman she had grown into was the child he'd rescued back in Raccoon city, innocent and doe eyed. With a shake of his head, he waved the question off. "It's fine; I'm just—"

His phone buzzed. He pulled it out and one glance told him it was the agency calling. Silently he held up a finger to excuse himself. As he stepped out into his kitchen he pressed it to his ear. "Kennedy speaking." A very familiar female voice responded. "Hey Leon, it's Hunnigan."

His face scrunched up in confusion. Hunnigan? "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Sorry to interrupt if you were in the middle of something, but I have an assignment for you," she explained.

"But I've been taking my orders from Harrleson for over a year now—"

"I know," Hunnigan interrupted, "And I'm sorry for the confusion. The higher ups heard he gave you the day off and had a fit about it. They've got another assignment for you." With a note of irritation, she added, "Harrleson must not have bothered to check his mail this morning."

"He's not going to be happy about breaking the chain of command like this," Leon muttered and ran a hand through his hair. "They can't get anybody else?"

"No. They requested you specifically. If Harrleson had given you the assignment himself, this wouldn't be a problem."

He frowned. Why him? He wasn't the only experienced field agent in the office by far; Helena and Piers could give him a run for his money any day. Then again, while the three of them _were_ probably the most experienced agents available to his division, both Helena and Piers had been taking it easy since China. Helena had an unstable reputation to begin with, despite good intentions, and the death of her sister only put her under more suspicion. After nearly becoming a monster himself, Piers's reputation wasn't much better. If this mission was so important that it would supersede Harrleson's orders, then it probably required a more trusted hand. He let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, lay it on me."

"We need you to look into the recent disappearance of a man named 'Isaac Redfern'. Collect as much information as you can, and report back to me at the end of the week."

Leon rolled his eyes. Report back to Hunnigan, huh? Oh, Harrleson would have a field day with this. "Alright," he agreed, "I'll get started tonight."

"Good." Her ever professional voice slipped into a more friendly tone when she spoke again. "And Leon?"

"Yeah?"

"Good luck." She hung up before he had the chance to ask why he needed it.

He shoved the phone into his pocked once again and walked back out to his living room where Sherry was waiting. "Sorry to cut this short, but work called and…" He allowed himself to drift off as he watched her hurriedly shove the last bit of a chocolate covered Dorito in her mouth. He crossed his arms and raised a suspicious eyebrow at her. "Not so bad after all, huh?" he asked with a smirk.

She swallowed and smiled sheepishly. "Maybe. But you're still weird for coming up with it."

* * *

><p>By that afternoon, he'd found three 'Isaac Redfern's in his search. The first turned out to be a six year old who was very much alive and well, and not missing. The second was an elderly man currently living in a Nursing home a few miles north of here, also not missing. That left Isaac Redfern number three: Head Researcher at a company by the name of Panacea Pharmaceuticals.<p>

After a quick glance at his watch, he'd jumped in his car and traveled the forty minutes to their base of operations. Isaac had worked there for twenty years; someone was bound to have noticed his disappearance.

Panacea's main compound was a sprawling building. Beyond its size, it looked friendly enough; only two stories, large windows and clean white paint. The cover didn't fool him. These companies always had areas below ground where the real work got done, away from the judgmental eyes of the public. The blonde woman behind their front desk was kind and approachable until the moment he mentioned Isaac's name.

"Isaac Redfern?" she repeated, her face blanching. "You're looking for Isaac Redfern?"

"Yeah," he admitted cautiously, "Is that a problem?"

Her lips pressed into a thin line. "I'm sorry, sir. Isaac Redfern isn't working today."

Leon tried to put on his most charming face. "Could you tell me how to contact him?"

"I'm _sorry, _sir," she repeated, deliberately enunciating each word, "But employee information is private. Can I do anything else for you today?" The way she asked it sounded more like 'If you stay any longer I'll have security throw you out'.

"No thanks," Leon muttered and left, not wanting to push his luck any farther. A gnawing unease settled in his stomach as he drove home. He was getting a bad feeling that this assignment was about to get complicated. Getting more information on Isaac wouldn't be a problem; with a few phone calls tonight he would have Isaac's home address by morning. Panacea's hostility on the other hand, was a bad sign. It meant they were hiding something.

* * *

><p>In light of the mounting pile of paperwork which had been growing ever since his trip to Qwills, Leon decided to spend his morning in the office rather than working on finding Isaac Redfern. He was still waiting for his contact to come up with the information anyway, and that report on Qwills wasn't going to write itself.<p>

Barely ten minutes after he'd arrived, Harrleson's angry voice rang out across the intercom. "Kennedy," his boss barked, "I need to see you in my office." His morning coffee hadn't even cooled yet. Leon grabbed the cup with a sigh and headed in the direction of Harrleson's office. He'd expected this.

"Close the door," Harrleson ordered when Leon entered. Leon did as asked, his boss's eyes on him the entire time. When the door finally clicked shut, he let loose with a string of obscenities so vulgar that Leon wasn't even sure he recognized some of them. "Dammit Leon," He said when he finally finished, "What the hell happened?"

Leon sat down in the chair facing Harrleson's desk and got comfortable. This could take a while. "I'm guessing you're talking about my latest mission?"

"Damn right I'm talking about your latest mission!" Harrleson roared, his cheeks turning even redder than usual. "You're _supposed _to take your orders from _me._"

Leon let out a breath and braced his free hand on his knees. "They called me in my off hours, Nick. Hunnigan gave me the assignment _personally. _I didn't have much of a choice to ask you about it."

"I would've given you the assignment myself if those bastards up top hadn't been so impatient," Harrleson growled. "Cocky pricks nearly bent me over and spanked me bare-assed when they found out I'd given you the day off!"

Leon choked on the coffee he'd been sipping and slipped into a "coughing" fit. Harrleson glared. He pounded a fist against his chest and cleared his throat several times. When his eyes had stopped watering, he raised his brows at his boss. "I'm sorry sir, but they _spanked _you?"

Harrleson rolled his eyes. "Laugh it up, Kennedy. You know what I mean." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright kid, I know this isn't your fault. But keep me in the loop, Kennedy. Last I checked I'm still in charge here, even though we all know those shitheads upstairs would like to micromanage everything." His hand slid off his face and he gave Leon a stern look. "You do whatever those buffoons tell you, but at the end of the day you report to me. Got it?"

Leon nodded and raised his coffee mug as if toasting. "Crystal clear, sir."

Harrleson slumped back in his chair. Leon thought he might've heard the clanking of his loose belt. "Dismissed," Harrleson said, jerking his head toward the door.

Leon nodded again and headed back to his desk. On the way he passed Piers, who reached out and snagged his arm. "Hey Leon," He said quietly, looking cautiously from side to side, "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Oh yeah?" Leon replied distractedly. He was eager to return to his report on Qwills. He'd been almost done when Harrleson had interrupted. "What was that?"

"Do you know anything about…" He leaned in to whisper the next part, "…the type of guys Helena likes?"

He'd caught Leon's attention now. "Why?"

Piers rocked on the balls of his feet and nervously bit his lip. "Think she could ever go for a guy like me?"

Leon thought about it, and then shrugged. "I really don't know. I've never seen what she's like when she's interested before. You'd have to ask her."

Piers sent him a mildly annoyed look. "Well that _is_ the plan." His expression quickly changed back to nervousness when he glanced toward the center of the room where Helena sat. "Any expert advice from the time you spent as her partner?"

Leon snorted. "Most of the men we ran into were zombies. I suppose not trying to eat her brains would be a good idea." At Piers's glare his tone softened slightly. "She's a nice girl. If you're honest about being interested in her, then you've probably got a good chance."

"You think so?" Piers bubbled with barely restrained excitement.

"Sure," Leon said, shrugging again. He took advantage of the pause in conversation and headed back toward his desk. Piers followed behind him, obviously intent on reaching Helena. As Leon sat down, he heard Piers clear his throat next to Helena's desk.

"So Helena…" he began, and Leon rolled his eyes. This might be an interesting day.

* * *

><p>By that afternoon, the information on Isaac had come in. According to his record he was 48, recently divorced, and had acquired two DUIs in the past two years. Just a month ago he'd spent a night in jail for disorderly conduct in a dive bar. It wasn't exactly the type of resume you'd expect from a head researcher. Isaac must have had unparalleled talent for Panacea to keep him.<p>

He lived in an apartment building that took Leon nearly two hours to drive to. Panacea's main offices were a full hour away; Isaac's morning commute must've been hell. It wasn't until Leon glanced at the map again that he realized how Redfern had gotten away with living so far from his work: a little rural road ran right through the landscape between his apartment and Panacea, cutting the travel time nearly in half. The cow trail of a road had no pit stops, save for one small town. Leon had squinted at the map in disbelief when he read the name.

It was Qwills.

Isaac Redfern must've driven past it nearly every day of his life. Now the town had disappeared—and so had he. The unease he'd felt yesterday afternoon settled back in the pit of his stomach like a rock.

When he pulled up to the apartment, the sun had just begun to set. The building was the first sign of something that actually made sense for a man who was the recipient of a six figure salary. With the stylized architecture and manicured landscaping, this place was closer to a resort than an apartment building. As Leon passed through a set of glass double doors that marked the entrance, the receptionist looked up from his desk. "Yes?" the man greeted him in a bored voice, absently filing his nails. His nametag read "Greg".

This didn't seem like the type of place that would just let him walk into someone's apartment but he figured he'd try anyway. If he could get by without having to whip out his credentials, it'd be all the better. He had a feeling that anonymity might be helpful for this mission…

"I'm looking for a friend of mine," Leon said casually and walked up to the desk. "Isaac Redfern. I was supposed to meet him a few days ago and he never showed up. I was hoping I could—"

"Take a look at his apartment?" Greg finished for him and Leon blinked in surprise. "Sure. His girlfriend's already up there with the same idea."

"His girlfriend?" Leon repeated. The file had mentioned no significant others…

"Yeah, she can let you in. Cute little thing, that one."

Leon nodded and headed toward the elevator, his muscles taut as he summoned it. When it arrived he stepped inside, punched the button and waited in silent apprehension as the doors closed. He had no idea who was waiting for him in Isaac's room, but a nagging instinct told him they'd be trouble.

The doors opened with a quiet _ding! _as they reached the fourth floor—Isaac's floor. His feet padded quietly against the soft blue carpet until he reached the room at the end of the hall. He held his breath, knocked, and waited.

No answer.

Leon let out the breath he'd been holding and tried the knob. To his surprise, it was unlocked.

"Hello?" Leon called as he opened the door a crack. Still there was no answer. Cautiously he stepped inside, his free hand instinctively hovering over the concealed gun at his waist.

The room he entered was dark. Light from the street below shone through the floor length window at the far end of the room, illuminating strange lumps in the shadows. Blindly he ran his hand along the wall for a light switch.

"Leon."

The soft voice had him jerking backward so quickly that he nearly pulled a muscle. _They know my name. _Something moved in the darkness and he drew his gun, warily aiming it into the void in front of him. "Who are you?"

Velvet laughter greeted his ears and suddenly the room was bathed in light. He blinked rapidly as his eyes slowly adjusted to the scene in front of him.

Ada Wong smirked at him from the end of the entryway, one hand on her hip and the other still on the switch. She glanced at his still raised gun and let out another breathy laugh. "Is that how you greet all of your friends?"


	6. Grin of the Cheshire Cat

**A/N: **

**NeuroticBanana: **Howdy folks! Apologies for the slight delay but rest assured we never forget to update. We put too much work into this little puppy to not post. Anyway, this chapter required quite a bit of tweaking, but now we are satisfied with it…so as always, please read and enjoy, but also please review, like Avogadro says, they make us happy, oooohhhh sooo happy. Make our day! Yay!

**Avogadro602: **Hey guys, sorry again for the delay in posting. We had a couple busy days. Anyway, we hope you like the chapter. We have noticed that we're a bit sparse on reviews right now. But reviews make us happy. So…make us happy? Please?

Disclaimer: We do not own Resident Evil or its characters. We're just borrowing it, but we'll give it back. Eventually.

**Chapter 6:**

**Grin of the Cheshire Cat**

Leon squinted at the abrupt brightening of the room. Previously dark, lumpy objects that had been obscured in shadow now took shape. Leon managed to take in a long and luxurious blue couch sitting in front of the floor length window. A fancy rosewood coffee table sat between the couch and the window and several plants dotted the corners of the room with exotic looking flowers protruding from green stems. Picasso like pictures adorned the walls. However, all these details were secondary to the sleek figure that stood at the side of the floor length window. His eyes zeroed in on her and all other features in the room faded to the background.

Ada Wong stood before Leon, a slender hand on her hip. In typical Ada fashion, she was dressed to the nines. When Leon's eyes did finally adjust to the bright light, he nearly did a double take as he took in the illusive woman in front of him. She wore a tight red halter top that made Leon's mind involuntarily slip into the gutter and a snug black skirt. It hugged her hips and backsides but opened up around her thighs to flash porcelain white thighs. How could Leon ever feel like he was on equal footing with her when the clothing she wore was so distracting?

"Ada," Leon finally managed to say after he'd thoroughly examined the woman before him. He waited for a response from her, but much to his irritation there was none. Ada simply batted her eyes at him and gave a very coy smile. With that demure little smile still gracing those achingly red lips, Ada sashayed away from the window and closer to Leon.

"What are you doing here Ada?" Leon asked, irritation clearly edging into his voice. The lethal grip he'd had on his pistol loosened and he reluctantly holstered it. While Ada was in many ways a dangerous predator, she was likely not a threat to him.

Still, silence from the sultry woman. Leon crossed his arms over his chest and sneered, "Lost your boyfriend _again_?"

"Jealous, Leon?" She teased, her voice like silk on his skin. Somehow, it simultaneously managed to turn him on and fill him with anxiety at the same time.

"So that's how it's gonna be? We're playing twenty questions…as usual," Leon huffed and kicked the door to the apartment closed. Once the door was sealed he stepped further into the room, but farther away from Ada. Better to keep distance between he and the snake in the grass.

To Leon's left there was a narrow hallway that assumedly led deeper into the apartment. It was dark and shadowy but Leon made out a few doorways. Through one he thought he saw the corner of a desk. An office, perhaps? An apartment this posh would be certain to have one.

When he glanced back at Ada he realized she had managed to sneak a little closer to him, despite his initial distance from her. Leon intentionally ignored this and pressed forward toward the dim hallway. Part of him was acutely attuned to _where _Ada was behind him. He didn't like that Ada just _happened _to be in the apartment of a missing man that had shady connections. Why was she here? What did she know that he didn't?

"So tell me Leon, what brings you to Mr. Redfern's apartment?" Ada's voice echoed behind him, rich like a bell. "Business or pleasure?" Leon steadfastly ignored her. Better to let her do the talking; perhaps he could even catch her in one of her own webs, though he doubted that would happen.

The first doorway in the dark hallway was on Leon's right which he gingerly peeked through. A dimly lit little bathroom greeted him. Definitely not what he was looking for; he continued down the hall ever aware of the soft footfalls behind him.

"Cat got your tongue?" Ada mewed. Leon, still ignoring the sweet velvet voice behind him, continued down the hall. She could ask all the questions she dared and tease all she wanted but he wouldn't give in. For once he wanted to have the upper hand. _He_ wanted to be in control.

There was a little sigh in response to his silence and then, "Redfern's office is the room at the end of the hall…and the bedroom," Ada's breathy voice paused as Leon stood stalk still at her words, "…the bedroom is on our left." Leon could easily hear the smile in her voice but couldn't help peaking in the room on his left. The shape of a bed was clearly visible through the doorway. Of course once he spotted it, his mind once again began travelling to naughtier places—places with satin sheets, bare skin and soft moans…

_Stop it, _Leon commanded himself and forced himself to keep moving. He had the overwhelming urge to turn back and look at Ada, to see that coy smile on those enticing lips. She was like heroin and he was an addict. He both loved and hated this little game they played; Ada was always a few steps ahead of him with her constant teasing, never willing to actually give of herself. These lustful feelings for Ada were natural, but the deeper feelings—the tender ones that carried weight with them—were the dangerous ones. It was these that would always give Ada an upper hand with him. Ada wasn't the type of woman you could care about and expect to have anything returned in kind; it would always be one sided. That was what Leon would tell himself when he would lay awake at night and think of her, which happened more nights than he cared to admit.

"Ada, I'm on the clock, and unlike _some _people I try not to mix business and pleasure," Leon snapped and turned his head slightly in her direction so that he could just barely see her. He had been hoping to see annoyance or even anger mar her perfect features, but was sorely disappointed when he saw a Cheshire cat grin spread across her lips at his words.

"Did I hit a sensitive spot?" Ada cooed her eyes narrowed with mischief.

Leon began to open his mouth to say something biting, but was stopped mid thought as Ada boldly passed by him and headed in the direction of the office. She gave him a brief smirk over her shoulder as she sauntered past. Leon began to frown but the expression was frozen in place as he caught site of the bare, silky white legs contrasting with the black skirt. He couldn't pull his gaze away as he watched those devastatingly long legs move under the flowing skirt. The mere movement filled his head with dirty thoughts. He could just see it in his mind's eye; her bare legs wrapped around his waist, hands gripped tight on his lower back, her breasts gloriously naked and pressed against his equally nude chest, their lips…

His adult imaginings were cut short by Ada's velvet voice as if she were privy to his thoughts. "Aren't you coming?"

_Damn her, I need a cold shower, _Leon thought to himself as he forcefully banished all thoughts of a very naked Ada from his mind. He needed to focus on the job and stop fluttering about like a horny teenager. This was Ada, not some sweet doe eyed cheerleader; this woman was more akin to a black widow waiting in a cleverly woven web.

Leon was finally able to break out of his lust filled stupor and made his way to the office. As he walked in he had to blink and shelter his eyes from the bright light that spilled out of an overhead lamp. It had been dark before he'd entered but just as he'd crossed the threshold, Ada had flipped a switch on the far wall and let light flood the room. Yet another way she could tease him.

"Dammit Ada! A little warning next time please?" Leon chastised and blinked at the brightness of the room. He briefly wondered why Redfern liked his home to be so dimly lit but then remembered the man had a serious alcohol problem and had probably consistently battled with hangovers that were worsened by any kind of light.

"Oh, I'm sorry…did I catch you off guard?" Ada asked demurely. Leon rolled his eyes in her direction and then really took in the office.

For a man of what was supposed to be great intelligence, Isaac Redfern's office certainly didn't portray that. While there were various diplomas and letters of achievements framed on the wall, there were copious amounts of beer logos and advertisements sharing the same space. There was even a small neon Bud Light sign above a very cluttered desk. The wall next to the window had a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition calendar on it. However it wasn't the beer or the nudey calendar that really caught Leon's eye, it was the clutter. Everywhere he looked there were stacked or crumpled papers, books piled up to the ceiling, trash overflowing from a waste bin next to the desk. There was a couch opposite the desk that was impossible to sit on because it was filled with crumpled papers, books, scientific journals, empty and molding takeout boxes, and general trash. Leon thought he saw a few Playboy magazine's somewhere in the mix. In addition to being an alcoholic, Isaac Redfern was a hoarder as well.

_How am I supposed to find anything of value in this mess? _Leon thought to himself as he looked around the filthy little office. He didn't have a clue where to begin. It was likely there was probably something of value among the trash and clutter but the odds of him finding it were small. It would easily take more than a day to sift through all the crap in this office.

Leon glanced back to Ada who stood by the desk; her eyes were on the window and the outside world. He wondered if she was looking at anything in particular. He imagined she'd probably done a once over of this room and had either found whatever she'd been looking for or had deemed it unfit to even search through.

As Leon gazed at Ada something on the desk caught his eye. Amidst the crumpled and scattered papers the edge of an unrumpled sheet of paper was just visible along with the letter A clearly written. It was an oasis of cleanliness in a desert of chaos. He couldn't quite put his finger on why he was drawn to that particular sheet of paper with just one letter visible, but for whatever reason he wanted to investigate it further.

Careful not to alert Ada to his possible discovery, Leon moved away from the desk and began shuffling through some of the other trash in the room. He thought that if he looked like he was randomly searching he was less likely to tip Ada off that he had potentially found something, because if he had, he sure as hell didn't want her getting it first.

"I never took you for the dumpster diving type," Ada mused from the window, her dark eyes observing him.

"Yeah, well, some of us have to get our hands dirty on occasion," Leon replied shortly as he continued sifting through the mess. He subtly moved closer to the desk.

"I don't think the dear Dr. Redfern would appreciate you digging through his trash."

Leon briefly stopped his searching to chuckle at Ada's words. "I 'spose you would know. After all, you're his girlfriend, right?" Leon shot Ada a mocking look.

"Now who gave you an idea like that?" Ada cooed and left the window. She approached Leon and as she passed the desk she ran one slender hand just over the papers Leon was interested in. The clutter sitting atop the intriguing paper moved revealing more of the paper beneath it. Leon could actually make out words now.

**FDA, Remember to se**

It was all he could read through the remaining clutter, but he could now see that what he'd thought was just a piece of paper was actually an envelope—an envelope with a lump in it; something was inside.

Leon quickly raised his eyes from the envelope and to Ada's hand that was making its way up to make contact with his chest. The fact that she was planning on making contact with him immediately put him on edge. He'd thought that Ada had probably searched this room already and was done with it. Obviously however, he was wrong and she was in fact still searching and was most likely _using _him to aid in her search. Ada wasn't above using her sensuality or his feelings for her to her advantage; that was exactly her MO.

Acting on instinct now, Leon snatched ahold of Ada's approaching hand with lightning speed and aggressively pulled her closer to him. His other arm wrapped around her waist, essentially pinning her to him. He knew full well that she could escape his grip if she wanted to; she would always be the hunter, never the hunted.

"Forward aren't we?" She whispered her eyes not on his face but clearly on his lips. She hadn't fought his advancement and looked as comfortable as ever, despite being pinned there. He doubted she would actually make any moves on him; that wasn't her style and if she _did _it would only be to gain the upper hand. He was bound and determined to not let happen.

"Why are you here Ada?" Leon asked doing his best to distract her.

"I could ask the same of you," Ada answered evasively and moved her free hand up to Leon's cheek. Leon had to fight every instinct in his body to prevent himself from melting like butter as that simple touch turned into an _almost _loving caress. This was all part of the Ada Wong act, and he knew better.

His face like stone, Leon repeated, "I asked you what you're doing here, Ada. Stop playing coy and come clean."

Ada's eyes were still on Leon's lips, occasionally glancing at his eyes, her own mouth edging closer. A large part of Leon wanted to give in to that sultry little game Ada was playing; to embrace it fully. But the logical part of Leon refused such an idea. If he gave in now, he didn't know how she'd be able to do it, but she would manage to sneak away whatever possible lead he'd thought he'd found. He had to resist—had to outthink her, out maneuver her.

Just as Ada's apple red lips were inches from Leon, her hand still lovingly on his cheek, Leon turned the tables on the clever little spider. He let Ada get tantalizingly close to kissing him before sliding a hand up the length of her back and firmly gripping the back of her neck. His arm caged her to him as he bent at the waist and lowered her into a near horizontal position. Her eyes brightened as he seemed to react to her advances and she observed him with an amused confidence. Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, Leon's free hand briefly reached out to drift across the desk and snatch the envelope. When it was safely tucked into his pants pocket, he tried to think about pushing her away. It was dangerous to keep her so close when her lips were still so near and tempting…

He lowered her to the ground, fully intending to leave her there. But despite his best intentions, he found himself hesitating at the feel of her body pressed against him. A sweet perfume seemed to emanate from her skin, though whether it was natural or a carefully crafted creation made to entice her prey he didn't know. Whatever the case, the overall effect was hypnotic. Her smile turned sultry as her hands traced over the muscles in his neck and he swallowed thickly. His skin tingled at her touch as if she'd coated her fingers with a deceptively friendly poison. His own hand began drifting from her side, knuckles brushing against her ribs. It crept upward until his palm traced the rounded curve of her breast. A satisfied gleam came to her eyes and her deft fingers wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer.

His mind broke from its haze and flew into a panic as he finally registered the look on her face. _Danger Will Robinson! Danger! _He leapt off her faster than if she'd been a zombie. A flash of surprise showed on her face for a fleeting moment but it was smothered a second later. He patted his pockets and felt a surge of triumph. The envelope was still there.

Ada rose with much more grace than he had.

"I'm not going to play this little game with you, Ada. We've done it too many times and we both know how it ends," Leon said sternly, desperately hoping that the seriousness of his voice and mock irritation on his face hid his previous actions.

"But it's so much fun," Ada replied smoothly and moved closer to him again. The brief flash of surprise that had marred her features was replaced with Ada's typical playful, coy smile. She took a step closer to him. The hands at her sides made Leon instantly cautious; those dainty little hands would try to find a way into his pockets and steal his prize. The woman was like a damn psychic; she saw _everything_.

Taking a step back, Leon shook his head. "Maybe for you. I'm done playing games."

Another step closer to him. "I think you're playing one right now."

"When have_ I_ ever been one to play games with _you_?" Leon snapped and held his ground. Ada simply smiled and drew closer.

_She's got you cornered; you have to get out of here now or she will take what you've found, _Leon thought to himself as Ada closed the distance between them. For just a second Leon reveled in the warmth of her body pressed against his and the feel of her hands on his hips, her fingers moving steadily down toward his groin…or more likely his pockets. The moment Leon felt Ada's teasing little hands dance on his waist he broke through his reverie and abruptly pushed Ada away from him and moved past her and out of the office. He could still feel the weight from the now crumply envelope in his pocket and knew that even though Ada had probably had every intention of lifting it off of him, she'd failed.

"Don't tease me Ada," Leon grumbled over his shoulder as he left the office and continued down the hallway. He knew he had limited time before Ada spun another web and ensnared him in it.

"Who says I was teasing?" Ada's musical voice called after him. He didn't stop or look behind him to see what she looked like when she spoke. It was all a ploy; it was all it ever would be with her.

Leon walked back into the now well-lit living room and wondered how he was going to get out of this apartment with his newly acquired evidence intact. He knew Ada would keep up this dance with him until she got what she wanted.

The front door was in sight now and in only a few short strides he'd be able to turn the knob and walk out but he knew that that was unlikely to happen. Ada would somehow interfere.

Turning from the door to the hall where Ada now stood her hands gently clasped in front of her, Leon said, "Well, I obviously won't be able to get anything done with you here. I'm going now." He turned to leave but heard rapid footfalls behind him and a velvety soft hand close over his wrist. If she had been any other woman, he might've expected her to beg him to stay and confess a heartfelt declaration of love for him, but he knew better than that.

"Really, Leon? I was enjoying our little reunion," she chimed with that same demure expression on her face. Leon felt his knees want to wobble at that coy smile; his hands burned with the desire to touch her, to caress the softness of her skin, to feel the heat of her body against his…

He tore his hand out of Ada's grip and moved away from her. Ada's face was impassive at his rejection. Leon began to say something to her when suddenly to both their surprise, the apartment door opened and the receptionist from the lobby stood in the doorway. He eyed both of them with a hint of suspicion as he stepped into the apartment.

"Uh, Hello Greg," Leon stammered as he foggily recalled the receptionist's name. Leon briefly noted that Greg's nails now looked pristine. Apparently all that filing had paid off.

"Hello to yourself. You two have been up here a while now, and I need to make sure you aren't stealing anything from Dr. Redfern," Greg stated and crossed his arms over is chest in an incredibly feminine way.

"No need to worry Greg…I was just looking for a pair of my panties that I left here the last time I was over," Ada teased and shot a lusty expression at Leon.

"Oh yeah, I bet," Greg murmured and eyed Ada with extra suspicion.

Ada began to walk forward toward Greg and the doorway, clearly intending to leave. She raised her hands up in a playful gesture of surrender as she passed Greg.

"Don't worry, _my _pockets are empty," Ada mused and sauntered past the pouty looking receptionist. Just outside the doorway Ada paused briefly, looked over her shoulder and called, "See you around, Leon."

Leon felt his stomach churn at her words. She knew he had something she wanted; he didn't know how she'd caught him but she had. He was sure that he would see her around sooner than he'd like. He'd have to find out what was in the envelope sooner than later and decide what to do with it. The quicker he was about it the better, because honestly, he was never quite sure when the snake he so adored would choose to strike again.

"She's a different one, that girl," Greg said mostly to himself as he looked after Ada.

"Damn straight," Leon whispered and sighed.

Things could never be easy.


	7. Down the Rabbit Hole

**A/N:**

**Avogadro602**: Whew! Posting this a day later than expected, sorry about that… The intrigue has taken a step up this chapter. Hopefully you'll like that. Please let us know if you do; I'm not sure why this story seems to have contracted review leprosy, but it seems to have. However, you could fix that! Check that little box at the bottom of the page, and our review section could quickly be on its way to recovery! We'd be very grateful. In any case, we'll see you next week!

Disclaimer: If you take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up and believe that Resident Evil belongs to Capcom. If you take the red pill, you stay in wonderland and Resident Evil still belongs to Capcom. That's right, there's no change. But I hear the red pill has Keanu Reeves.

Cover artwork is by LoneWolf117 from Deviantart.

**Chapter 7: **

**Down the Rabbit Hole **

Halfway through the drive home the sky grew dark and a gentle patter started on Leon's windshield. He turned his wipers on and glanced at the temperature readout on the dash: 38 degrees Fahrenheit. Any colder and this rain would turn into snow.

His eyes flickered back to the road and tried to focus through the steadily increasing downpour, but his mind strayed down to his pocket. The comforting bulk of the folded envelope still pressed against him through the fabric—good. That meant Ada hadn't managed to sneak her way from his thoughts and into his pockets. He suppressed a shiver as he once again thought about those deft, _thieving _littlehands…and how they felt pressed up against him. If he'd spent one minute longer there she would've managed to take it from him; there was no question. Ada was a master at this game, and even now her presence chased him. He half expected her to materialize in his back seat, slide one dainty hand into his pocket and steal his prize right out from under his nose.

But Ada wasn't here now. _No one _was here now; he'd made sure of it, eyeing the rear view mirror every few minutes just to be certain that no one was following him. Even still, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

There was something important in that envelope. With a label as telling as "Send to FDA", there had to be, right? Surely this must have been the type of information he'd been sent to find. Of course, he hadn't looked at it yet. What if he turned it in and it turned out to be an application for clinical trials of some innocuous drug? He had serious doubts that his agency would be interested in the newest line of male enhancement pills. He would glance at it when he got home just to be sure it wasn't a false lead.

Leon squinted to make out the lights of oncoming traffic as fog began to cover the windshield. Bits of white now were falling with the rain, leaving a thick spittle that stuck to his wipers and coated the road. There was a car in front of him, or there had been when he could see anything…it didn't help that this road was poorly lit and not frequently traveled at night. He cranked the air up and as the haze cleared a pair of fast approaching taillights became visible.

"Shit," he cursed and slammed on the brakes.

His car fishtailed and slid to the side. In a panic, he yanked the wheel to the side and the car swerved off the road entirely. Completely out of his control now, it turned a full 180 degrees until finally coming to a stop at the side of the road, facing the _opposite _direction he had been going. Now safely on the shoulder, Leon let out a sigh and ran a hand over his face. His curiosity was getting the better of him and it was starting to affect his driving. He looked out his window, the condensation blurring the image. Night had fallen. The car that had been braking in front of him was long gone, leaving his headlights as the only light source for miles. He was completely alone. After a moment of internal debate, he shifted the car into park and pulled the parcel out of his pocket.

There was something lumpy and hard under his thumb. His face twisted in confusion. _That doesn't feel like a letter… _As he examined it further, he discovered that it was also unsealed. Curious, he tipped it on its side and shook the contents into his hand. Two small, rectangular silver objects fell out—they were jump drives he realized after a moment—and a small piece of paper tumbled shortly after them. It was a yellow post-it note that appeared to have fallen off at some point. It read, in a slanted scribble,

"_Keep this one for personal records_

_**DO NOT SEND.**__"_

On one of the jump drives another message was scrawled in the same slanted handwriting. It read: "_Bite me, Fuckers."_ Otherwise, the jump drives were identical.

Leon snorted and wondered if that was the one which was supposed to be sent off or kept in his personal records. He picked up the blank one and glanced to the bag sitting on the passenger seat. In it was his laptop. Clearly this was more than a simple letter to the FDA, but there was no harm in making sure, right? He slid a hand into his bag and took the laptop out, carefully balancing it against his knees and the steering wheel.

As it booted, his eyes were once again drawn to the jump drive in his hand. _I'm looking at it for the mission, _he told himself. _It's my job to know what I'm turning in. _His gut twisted in on itself the way it always did when he lied to himself. He steadily ignored it as the computer finished booting and he plugged the device into a port on the side.

The jump drive contained a single document entitled _READ ME. _He opened it.

_Arnold Lewis, MD, PhD ,_

_Director of the Department of Scientific Investigations_

_U.S. Food and Drug Administration _

_Dear Mr. Lewis,_

_As a__medical professional and in respect to the integrity of my research, I feel I must inform you of a situation which has recently come to my attention. Our primary benefactor's representative, a Mr. Timothy Swanson, has recently been encouraging our company to undergo unethical practices in order to speed up__test results. It is my belief that he may have persuaded some members of our research team to perform disreputable experiments without my knowledge. The following e-mail correspondence between myself and Mr. Swanson is what brought this to my attention. _

_**From: tswan **_

_**Sent: 06/06/2014 13:29**_

_**To: iredfern **_

_**Subject: RE:Research Timeline **_

_Mr. Redfern,_

_I have examined the time estimates you gave in your last e-mail, and I am sorry to inform you that they are unacceptable. Please readjust the schedule and be prepared for clinical trials by the end of this fiscal year._

_Regards,_

_Timothy Swanson, P.A._

_Law Incorporated_

_**From: iredfern **_

_**Sent: 06/07/2014 08:10**_

_**To: tswan **_

_**Subject: RE: RE: Research Timeline**_

_Mr. Swanson,_

_I apologize for the inconvenience, but unfortunately research takes time. Drugs which involve human testing have many stages of development. At this stage, we may only test on volunteers with a terminally ill diagnosis. By our estimates, we will be ready for clinical trials in no sooner than five years. As always, we are grateful for your generous contributions to Panacea. We will try our best to be accommodating in the future._

_Isaac Redfern, PhD, MD_

_Head Researcher_

_Panacea Incorporated _

_**From: tswan **_

_**Sent: 06/30/2014 09:00**_

_**To: iredfern **_

_**Subject: RE: RE: RE: Research Timeline**_

_Mr. Redfern,_

_I believe you have misunderstood me. Prepare for clinical trials by the end of this fiscal year. My affiliates and I do not make losing investments. I have faith in your research team._

_Regards,_

_Timothy Swanson, P.A._

_Law Incorporated_

_**From: iredfern **_

_**Sent: 08/05/2014 15:47**_

_**To: tswan **_

_**Subject: RE:RE:RE:RE: Research Timeline**_

_Mr. Swanson,_

_Strangely enough, I've rerun the numbers with our most recent batch of test results included, and it appears we may meet your goal. I have no idea how they managed to do it, but they're finding volunteers left and right now. It must be a very bad year for Alzheimer's … In any case, I am pleased to inform you that we, surprisingly, will likely meet your time requirements._

_Isaac Redfern, PhD, MD_

_Head Researcher_

_Panacea Incorporated _

_**From: iredfern **_

_**Sent: 09/21/2014 22:08**_

_**To: tswan **_

_**Subject: Fuck You**_

_You're an asswipe, you know that? Did you really think I wouldn't find out? I will not be your research whore. This is wrong. I'm stopping this and no amount of money will make me decide otherwise. _

_Go fuck yourself,_

_Isaac Redfern, PhD, MD_

_Head Researcher_

_Panacea Incorporated _

_**From: tswan **_

_**Sent: 09/22/2014 06:00**_

_**To: iredfern **_

_**Subject: RE: Fuck You**_

_Mr. Redfern,_

_I regret to hear of your decision, and strongly suggest you reconsider. I believe it would be in the best interest of both parties that our cooperation continues. However should you continue on this course of action, it is our obligation to inform you that we cannot guarantee our continued support. We also cannot guarantee the quality of your mother's dementia medication. _

_Have a pleasant day,_

_Timothy Swanson, P.A._

_Law Incorporated_

_Now that you have read my query, Arnold, I'll cut the bullshit. I know what these correspondences imply regarding my company and I am prepared to accept the consequences, but I will not sit back and get bullied into doing unspeakable things in the name of science. My record isn't clean by any standards, but the things I found going on in my own company because of this man make me sick to my stomach. Inhumane doesn't begin to describe it. He doesn't want our research for curing _Alzheimer's_, that's for sure. Take this fucker down. If I have to go down with him so be it, just take him and all of his "affiliates" out. Something sick is going on here and I think it's big. They cancelled my credit cards. I know what it is like when the bank cancels them, or when the IRS is on your ass—trust me, this is different. He did it. Or got someone to. And they're watching my apartment. The other day I came home and the receptionist told me my brother had stopped by. I don't have a broth—_

There was a tapping at the window. Leon jumped and instinctively snapped the laptop shut. A man was standing just outside his door, shining a bright light inside. He took a slow breath to calm his racing heart. Where had this stranger come from? He was in the middle of nowhere.

"…_And they're watching my apartment." _

Leon pushed the thoughts from his mind and rolled down his window. It was difficult to see in the dark, but the man appeared to be wearing a police officer's uniform. Only now did he notice the flashing lights in his rearview mirror. Leon craned his neck to see the officer's face, squinting against the flashlight.

"Can I help you, officer?"

It was too dark to make out his features. A deep voice came from the faceless void where Leon supposed his mouth was. "Mind if I ask what you're doing at the side of the road on a night like this?"

Rain dribbled in on Leon's hand as it crept up to the door handle. If this man turned out to be hostile, he'd use the momentum of the opening door to push him away. Of course he was probably just another officer of the law doing his job, so there was no need to worry…probably. "I was just on my way home, but I remembered something I needed to check. So I pulled over." It was true. For the most part.

"You were checking something on that?" The officer gestured downward with the flashlight, briefly illuminating the laptop.

Leon's free hand discretely unplugged and pocketed the jump drive. "Yes. I had just been about to leave. Is there a problem?"

The officer paused for a moment, and then clicked the flashlight off. As Leon's eyes adjusted, he saw the man reach for something at his waist. He tensed… "Make sure you put it away before you start driving again, otherwise I'll have to give you a ticket."

Leon let out a breath as he finally made out the small pad of paper the officer held. "Oh." They were blank tickets. "Of course, officer."

The officer stepped away from the car. "You have a nice night, sir."

Leon watched him walk back to his vehicle in the side mirror before finally slumping back into his seat. His eyes fell downward to his clenched fist. Slowly, his palm uncurled to reveal the tiny silver rectangle. A knot in his stomach began to form. What had Isaac gotten himself into?

What had _he _gotten himself into?

* * *

><p>Leon passed the night in a fitful slumber. In his dreams he was always being hunted. First it was by Ada, who magically appeared around every corner and taunted him with things he couldn't have. Then it was no longer Ada who chased him, but strange faceless men in dark suits. When <em>they <em>found him, these men wouldn't taunt him. Instead, they'd pull out high caliber pistols from their tailored suits with silencers attached so that no one would hear him die. Or, they'd sneak up behind him just when he thought it was safe and slide a knife across his throat. Only as the life bled out of him did he feel their minty breath against his neck, close enough to be a lover's.

When he awoke with a shuddering gasp in the morning, it was the two silver jump drives that greeted him from his night stand. He groaned and stumbled into the shower in a stupor. The water was soothing as it ran down his shoulders and back, helping to clear his head. _Trust your instincts. _That had been his golden rule for years now and it had yet to fail him. He'd been right about Qwills, hadn't he?

Now his instincts were telling him that _something _was definitely wrong, but exactly what was a mystery. Clearly Isaac had gotten involved in a dangerous game, and there was something foul going on at Panacea. But had Isaac's report been genuine? Had Timothy Swanson been manipulating his researchers to do horrible things without Isaac's knowledge, or had Isaac known all along? Was someone really watching him, or were his worries just the ravings of a paranoid alcoholic?

Isaac's fate aside, the more concerning matter was whether or not his apartment was _still _being watched. Maybe it was crazy to think that someone actually could have followed Leon for looking into this, but he'd seen crazier things in his time. The question was this: if someone _did _come after him, would anyone believe him if he said anything?

He was certain that the information on those jump drives would be deemed top secret and classified into oblivion as soon as he turned it in. The higher ups _shouldn't _turn a blind eye if he came across trouble because of one of their assignments. Without any proof on his part, though, they technically could. But they wouldn't. They were his company, an arm of the government he trusted and had sworn to protect. Of course they'd protect him should it come to that. Right?

He found himself staring at the two jump drives as he buttoned his shirt. There _were _two copies… He'd briefly checked last night after getting home to see if they contained identical information. They did. Did the agency _really _need two copies of the exact same thing? Leon cautiously picked up the labeled jump drive and stared at it. "_Bite me, Fuckers," _stared back at him.

His phone buzzed and he sucked in a sharp breath. He whipped it out with his free hand and shook his head when he saw the message there. Hunnigan wanted to meet him this morning to discuss any findings on his most recent mission.

"You're getting paranoid, Kennedy," he whispered to himself and quickly shoved both drives into the envelope he'd found them in. One glance to the clock told him he'd already wasted too much time worrying about this. He was going to be late.

Piers greeted him with a cocked eyebrow as he reached his desk. He was casually leaning up against Helena's desk, a cup of coffee in hand. Helena herself seemed to be trying her hardest to pretend he didn't exist with her nose buried in paperwork. It didn't seem to faze Piers, though. "Forget to shave this morning, Leon?"

Leon ran a hand over the stubble on his chin and sighed. "It sure feels like it."

Piers nodded with a sympathetic look, but there was a perpetual cheeriness to his mood this morning that was hard to hide. "Bad night?"

Leon grunted and sank into his chair, already feeling exhausted. It was barely 8 am. "Bad dreams."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Piers tried again to appear sympathetic, and failed. His face was composed, but he was bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet. Something must have happened to make him _very _happy. Leon would've asked about it, but his mood was so sour that he really didn't care.

Piers cleared his throat. "Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Harrleson wants to see you. He was looking for you earlier and asked me to point you in his direction once you got in. It sounded urgent."

Leon dropped the file folder of notes on Isaac Redfern he'd just started preparing for his meeting with Hunnigan today. _It's urgent, huh? _Harrleson wasn't the only one who had sounded impatient. One of them was going to have to wait. Reluctantly, he stood and headed toward Harrleson's office.

"Good luck!" Piers chirped as he left. He gave Leon a thumbs up as he passed.

Behind him, he heard Helena snap at Piers in a low voice. "Would you quit acting like that?"

There was an obvious smile in Piers' voice. "Acting like what?"

"Like you're the cat that ate the canary," Helena grumbled. "Look, just because we—"

Leon tuned them out as he reached Harrleson's door. Stealing himself, he turned the knob and stepped inside.

Harrleson was standing in front of his desk when Leon entered. Beside him was a stoney faced man who Leon had never seen before. His dark brown hair was cropped short and he was wearing a suit. Judging by the fact that Harrleson had actually buckled his pants, this must have been serious.

"Leon," Harrleson greeted him in a rough voice. He did not sound happy. "I'd like to introduce you to Felix Jones."

Leon turned toward the man in question, who had now stuck out his hand. He returned the gesture and was met with astartlingly firm grip. This man might as well have been made from rock. Leon brushed gazes with pale, expressionless grey eyes.

"Pleased to meet you," Felix said in a strangely soft voice, though his face looked as blank as it had when he'd come in. A faint scent of mint wafted up to Leon's nose and his stomach clenched. It was as if Felix had walked straight out of his nightmare. Those grey eyes sharpened when he stiffened, giving Leon the sudden and irrational fear that Felix could read his thoughts.

Harrleson continued, unaware of the silent communication going on in front of him. "Felix is new to the unit and will be accompanying you on your missions from here on."

Leon's eyebrows shot up and his head snapped back toward Harrleson. "You're assigning me a new partner?"

"For now, yes." Harrleson's eyes darted back and forth between he and Felix, and Leon got the distinct impression that there was a lot more he was afraid to say. "It's standard procedure for our newer recruits to shadow someone more experienced like yourself."

This was _not _standard procedure. Partners were people you had to work with, and frequently had to rely on in tight situations. If you didn't get along with your partner it could get you killed. The choice was important enough that they _always _asked beforehand. Always. Just assigning him one like this… it was as if they were punishing him. Leon's eyes narrowed slightly and shifted back to his new "partner".

"Felix," Leon addressed him through a tight jaw, "Would you mind waiting for me at my desk? I have something I need to discuss with Nick."

Felix's penetrating gaze sent shivers down his spine. "As you wish, Mr. Kennedy." He straightened his jacket and calmly walked to the door before sending one last look at Leon. "I look forward to working with you," he said in the same quiet, smooth tone he'd sustained throughout the entire encounter. Leon got the feeling that this man did not raise his voice often—and you would not want to be around if he did.

Leon mustered up a small smile out of courtesy and gave a little nod. "Same here," he lied.

Felix cocked his head to the side and studied him briefly as a scientist might a lab rat. After a second he hummed to himself, as if having confirmed a suspicion. Then he swiftly exited the room, leaving Leon feeling vaguely violated.

He pushed the feeling aside and turned to his boss. "Harrleson, what's going on here?"

Harrleson slumped back against his desk. Suddenly he looked much older. "I don't really know, kid. The paper was in my box this morning. They wanted you to have a new partner. It _has _been a while, Leon."

Leon shook his head. "But all of the sudden like this? And without _asking _me first? That's—"

"—batshit crazy?" Harrleson suggested with a weak smile, "I know. And before you ask, no, you haven't done anything wrong. At least not that I know of."

Leon grunted in frustration and began to pace the room. "So if this wasn't your decision, whose was it?"

Harrleson shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "I don't know. One of the higher ups, I guess."

"Well, someone seems to think I screwed up. Why else would they assign someone like _that _to me? He's clearly no rookie."

A half-snort half choking sound emerged from Harrleson's throat. "You're telling me. The guy has got high dollar internal affairs written all over him. I nearly shit a brick this morning when he came in because I thought he was investigating _me." _

At that Leon stopped his pacing and looked to Harrleson, his expression serious. "_Are _they investigating me?"

"I don't _know, _Leon. I would tell you if I knew, I really would." He let out a long sigh and fiddled with the clasp of his belt longingly. "They don't tell me anything except to order me around. Hell, I don't even know what's going on in your current assignment anymore."

Leon felt a sudden surge of guilt as he remembered the jump drives currently sitting in his pocket. He was keeping them on his person due to the sensitive information they contained. Information was power and couldn't be allowed into the wrong hands… but was Harrleson the wrong hands? Harrleson, who'd been his boss and loyal friend for years? He frowned. "As soon as my current assignment is over, how about I fill you in?"

Harrleson smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "You're a good kid, Kennedy. I'd be glad to have a beer with you when this is all over. Just make sure it's safe first. You never want to upset the shitheads upstairs." He waddled around the desk and practically melted into his chair, then gestured toward the door. "Now get out of my office. You've got an eager little rookie to train."

Leon nodded and stepped out. When he scanned the room he caught sight of Felix standing next to his desk, arms folded behind his back. Piers had long fled the area. Apparently he and Harrleson weren't the only ones intimidated by Felix. He approached his desk with some reluctance.

"You can sit down, you know," Leon commented as he neared, "I wouldn't mind."

Felix glanced at Leon's chair with disinterest. "I prefer to stand."

"Suit yourself," Leon said and slid past him into the cubicle, taking a seat in the chair when he reached it. "We'll need to get you a desk of your own at some point. Human resources probably—"

"You have a meeting this morning with Ingrid Hunnigan, I believe," Felix interrupted, "Perhaps we should discuss this after?"

Leon eyed him warily and reached for the Isaac Redfern folder he'd been preparing. Felix already knew his schedule, huh? Or maybe he'd been digging through his stuff while he was away… "Just give me a minute to get my report organized."

He flipped the folder open and picked up where he had left off. After several seconds he felt the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. He swiveled his chair around to find Felix staring at him expectantly. Did he expect Leon to finish instantly? "Felix, I can't work with you staring over my shoulder like that."

Felix raised one eyebrow—the most expression Leon had seen out of him yet. "I'll wait for you at the elevator then, Agent Kennedy." When he finally left him alone Leon managed to relax slightly, but his conversation with Harrleson still weighed heavily on his mind. He had nearly prepared everything when he remembered the jump drives. They, along with the envelope they were found in, really should be in the folder for his report… He withdrew the package from his pocket and slid it into the folder. As he did, one of the silver rectangles fell out onto the floor. He reached down to pick it up and noticed that it was the jump drive with the writing on it.

_If this one went missing, _he realized suddenly, _they'd never know the difference…_

"Agent Kennedy?" Leon jumped and quickly shoved the tiny device into his pocket. He glanced up to find Felix staring at him, yet again. "If we do not leave now, you will be late."

"I know," He snapped and grabbed the folder, then stood. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>Ingrid Hunnigan was on the third floor of the building. Her office was bustling with people, but the moment she spotted Leon she shooed them all out. "Leon," she greeted as they walked in, "It's good to see you're doing well." She nodded toward Felix as she shut the door. "I heard you got a new partner."<p>

Leon suppressed a grunt of frustration. Apparently he'd been the last to know. "This is Felix. Is it alright if he shadows me during my mission?"

"Yes, of course," she said, her heels clicking as she walked to her desk, "My superiors have already cleared it. Now, tell me what you found."

Leon handed her the file and gave her a basic overview of everything he'd found on Isaac Redfern up to the point of searching his apartment.

"And did you find anything of interest there?" she asked, looking up from the folder. Her eyes sparked with barely hidden interest behind her glasses.

He nodded. "The envelope there, marked with a message to 'Send to the FDA'."

She reached into the envelope and pulled out the lone jump drive, examining it closely. Leon's stomach twisted in on itself. "Interesting… Did you look at this?"

"Briefly," he admitted, settling on a half-truth, "To make sure it was worth reporting."

"I see," she said and slipped it back into the envelope. "Do you have anything else to report?"

He hesitated. The second jump drive was burning a hole in his pocket. "No."

Hunnigan nodded and stood. "Alright then. Good work, Leon." She led them to the door. "We'll contact you if we need anything else."

He hesitated at the threshold. "You don't want me to continue investigating him?"

"That's all we need for now." She gave him a business-like smile and straightened her skirt. "I'll see you later, Leon."

Felix was waiting for him in the hallway. Together they walked back to the elevator, each step leading Leon closer to his own doom.


	8. Body Language

**A/N: **

**NeuroticBanana: **Phoenix Operative made us so happy that we decided to post another chapter this week. I hope that'll float everyone's boat…so do read and as always enjoy!

**Avogadro602:** Hopefully our early post is to your liking. Thank you for your review, Phoenix operative! We really appreciate it! :-D

Disclaimer: All your base are belong to us. Except Resident Evil, because it belongs to Capcom.

And the Cover Art was done by LoneWolf117 from deviantart, so we don't own that either.

**Chapter 8:**

**Body Language**

It was dark when he finally got home that evening, and later than he would've liked. The weather was at least a little better than it had been yesterday; the sun had poked its head out from behind the clouds and warmed the cold breath of Jack Frost away. But despite the nice turn in the weather, Leon was not in a good mood. In fact, he was in a foul mood.

The apartment was dark as Leon trudged inside and slammed the door shut behind him. His hand groped the wall for the light switch and he felt a moment of relief as his dark apartment became illuminated. After Leon had dropped his keys off on the kitchen counter and securely locked the door behind him he let out a loud, frustrated sigh.

All day he'd felt horrible; from the sleepless night he'd had and the constant feeling that there was _someone _watching him to the ridiculous new partner assignment, Leon had been run ragged. His thoughts darkened instantly when his mind drifted to Felix—his new_ "_partner". That was a load of crap. The man had silent killer written all over him and made Leon feel tense and on edge. Leon thought of the man's pale, impassive eyes and shuddered. It was like looking into a void of emotion; there was _nothing _there except cold logic.

Leon ran a hand over his face and cringed at the five o'clock shadow that had sprouted up. He'd been so rushed that morning that he'd barely had time to put on clean clothes, let alone shave. _I ought to go shave_, Leon thought to himself as he pulled his hand away. He'd never been a big fan of too much facial scruff.

Sighing, Leon moved away from the front door and toward the bedroom. As he crossed by the kitchen counter he froze as his eyes landed on a lone cupcake that sat in the center of countertop. They'd celebrated Piers's birthday in the office last week, and Leon had gladly taken home the leftovers. They _should've _been stored in the fridge. It was innocent enough but Leon did _not _remember leaving it out this morning. Yes, he'd been in a rush and could've easily spaced out the fact that he'd left behind a cupcake on the tabletop…but something about it was off.

Moving forward, Leon slowly picked up the cupcake and was relieved to find that it was room temperature, not chilled from the refrigerator. If someone had been in his apartment, particularly one of the men in black his imagination had been running wild with, it was unlikely they'd grab a cupcake to taunt him with. That thought eased Leon's nerves slightly and he decided that it was much more likely that he'd simply forgotten it there on the counter this morning.

Gingerly, Leon continued to move toward the bedroom, all the while munching on the cupcake. He tried his best not to think about the past two days events. If he thought about it too much he became quite paranoid, and thought that he'd begun a descent down a rabbit hole nearly impossible to climb out of. What had he gotten himself into?

With that thought Leon's free hand flew to his breast pocket and the tiny lump of the discreetly hidden jump drive within. As the day had passed he'd felt too paranoid to just leave it in his coat or pants pocket; he was too afraid that someone would easily lift it off of him and so it'd found its home in his breast pocket. He wondered if he'd get any sleep at all tonight knowing that he still possessed one of Redfern's highly coveted jump drives. Where could he keep it safe?

Leon tossed the cupcake wrapper in the waste bin next to his night stand and silently stood in his dimly lit bedroom. Somewhere on the street below, a car alarm started blaring and Leon jumped. Leon calmed his racing heart by reassuring himself that it was in fact, only a car alarm going off and not some mob of angry killers coming to claim the jump drive and kill him.

Sinking down onto his bed, Leon put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. His nerves were shot. Everything that had happened lately had been too much, too fast; Ada's mysterious appearance at the Ball, the incidence at Qwills, Redfern's disappearance, Ada's shadowy presence in Redfern's apartment, and now the random assignment of a new partner. There was a distinct dark undertone to all of these recent happenings and that disturbed Leon greatly.

Slowly, Leon kicked off his shoes and slid out of his coat and pants. He left his discarded clothing items in a pile on the floor and moved for to the connected bathroom and quickly flipped on a light switch. Spotty, dim light flickered on, and lonely white porcelain of his toilet and tub greeted him. Leon eyed the tub and decided he needed a night of pampering: it was time for a bath.

Leon started the water in the tub and let it run as he turned back to face the mirror. He was disturbed by the image that greeted him: dark circles under his eyes and the heavy five o'clock debated whether or not he wanted to shave now or to push it off until tomorrow and ultimately decided that while the growth annoyed him, it could wait to be dealt with. Leon began unbuttoning his shirt as the tub continued to fill with warm water. He placed his shirt over the back of the toilet so he could keep an eye on it; Leon didn't want that little jump drive leaving his sight for a second.

At last the tub was full and Leon shut off the faucet and quickly slipped out of his undershirt and boxers. He stepped into the tub and gently eased into the warm water. Leon sighed in relaxation as he let the warmth spread over him and gladly spread out in the tub, though it really wasn't designed for a full sized adult to lounge around in.

With his back to the door and his eyes on the shirt hanging on the toilet, Leon leaned his head against the back of the tub and let his eyelids close to little slits. The breast pocket was still visible and for the moment he felt utterly at ease, his worries temporarily forgotten.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Asked a very feminine, very familiar voice from behind him.

In an instant, Leon's eyes snapped open and he whirled around in the tub to face the door and the owner of the voice. Though he was fairly certain who the musical voice belonged to.

"Ada," Leon snapped angrily. Ada emerged from the shadows of his bedroom and draped herself in the doorway of the bathroom. Leon took in the black flowing skirt and red halter top, the same getup she'd worn in Redfern's apartment. She had some pair of ungodly high heels on that somehow made her already long legs longer.

"Present," Ada purred and gave a silky smile. Her hands folded in front of her and for a moment Leon wanted to laugh at how innocent she looked, but he knew she was anything but; she, the wolf in sheep's clothing.

"What are you doing sneaking around in my apartment, Ada?" Leon demanded and briefly averted his gaze from Ada to his shirt. He _knew_ the answer already, though; she was here to steal evidence he'd found _fair and square_.

"Maybe I just wanted to drop by and try the cupcake you had hidden in the fridge," Ada teased and took a step forward, into the bathroom. Leon instantly tensed at her proximity, his hands instinctively shielding his nether regions.

"So that was you? What, was that your way of letting me know you were planning a visit?" Leon mocked and shifted in the bathtub so that he was closer to his shirt and the hidden jump drive. Ada simply smiled at his words and moved a little closer to the tub, her dark eyes drifting down to the sloshing water and a very naked Leon.

"I'm sorry, Leon. I didn't realize it would get you so…_hot _and _bothered,_" Ada murmured as a wicked little smile made its home on her lips. Before Leon could say anything in response, Ada abruptly slipped her hands over her hips and wiggled out of her skirt. Leon watched, open mouthed as the skirt fell silently around her ankles and left the petite woman standing in a pair of black and red panties.

Desperate to regain control of the situation and prevent Ada from exacerbating things further, Leon blurted out, "_Leave_ Ada. You're not welcome here."

Leon's words, however, seemed to have no effect on Ada. She simply continued smiling her devious little smile as she slipped out of her heels and shrugged off the halter top, leaving her clad only in matching bra and panties. She took a step closer to the tub.

"Am I making you uncomfortable, Leon?" Ada cooed and lifted one foot so that just the tip of her toe tested the water. Leon stared at the perfectly manicured red toenails. He gulped and at that moment desperately wished the water was icy cold as opposed to steaming hot.

Sure he'd imagined this kind of thing dozens of times, but he'd _never _wanted it to be like this—not when she was clearly using her sexuality and his desire for her as a weapon. He'd always imagined passionate confessions of love and devotion…that was what he ultimately wanted; something deep and meaningful.

The current situation was not deep and meaningful; the current situation was dangerous and needed to be played very carefully if Leon wanted to maintain the upper hand.

"What do you want, Ada?" Leon growled and scooted backwards in the tub so that he faced the doorway and Ada, his shirt and hidden jump drive in his visual periphery.

Ada took advantage of the room in the tub and stepped in, crowding Leon. Leon moved as far away from her as he could but couldn't deny the fact that having her in the tub with him both excited and frightened him beyond belief. There was barely enough room for Leon in the tub, let alone Ada…the close quarters made his head swim with ideas.

"What? Can't a girl just enjoy a nice bath?" She purred and pulled her legs up to her chest so that her knees stuck out of the water.

Leon snorted at Ada's response. "Really? You expect me to believe _that_? You still have your underwear on for goodness sakes!"

The sultry smile on Ada's lips only widened at Leon's words and Leon suddenly felt as if he'd walked into a well laid trap.

"You are absolutely right, Leon. How silly of me," Ada murmured and slowly leaned forward and reached her dainty hands behind her back and unclasped the lacey black and red bra. Leon pressed himself even closer to the back of the tub, to the point that it hurt. His pulse pounded in his ears as Ada teasingly pulled the bra off and casually dropped it over the side of the tub. Leon watched the bra fall before his eyes instantly snapped back to the topless woman before him. He felt disappointment briefly stab at him as he realized that Ada's knees were still pulled up to her chest, preventing him from seeing the silkiness of bare breasts.

Just as Leon was about to say something snide to distract himself, Ada's hands vanished into the water and she shifted a little. Leon held his breath as he realized what she was doing. A moment later Leon saw Ada's hands reappear from the water and trail along her hips with the hem of her panties in tow. Leon blinked and just like that Ada's frilly little panties were in her hands and casually dropped onto the floor.

"That's better," she whispered and let her eyes close and her head fall back against the back of the tub. Silence followed.

Leon gulped as he watched the shady woman across from him. His blood felt like it was boiling at the sight of her. The mere _thought_ of her completely nude and exposed before him was enough to excite him; the fact that she was not only entirely naked and exposed but in a bathtub _with _him made him lose almost all objectivity. It took every bit of self-restraint he had to not close the distance between them and pounce on her. He imagined it now, how he would move swiftly across the tub, part those legs to make room for himself; to _fully _expose her. The thought thrilled him.

As if she was privy to Leon's thoughts, across the tub Ada's legs slowly fell apart giving Leon a partial view of milky white breasts and pearly white abdomen. Leon's heart nearly jumped out of his chest at the small movement from her. He tried to push himself farther away but only felt his back press harder against the back of the tub. Leon tried desperately to clear his head of the vivid images of the two of them rolling around, limbs intertwined, lips locked. He'd heard the siren's call and was finding it impossible not to respond to it.

_Damn her,_ Leon thought to himself as he watched one of Ada's dainty hands trace her collar bone, leaving behind tiny beads of water.

"You're so quiet…something on your mind?" Ada mused and slowly opened her eyes to gaze at Leon. Her blissful expression seemed to increase the red hot ache Leon was experiencing throughout his entire body. With Ada's legs no longer pressed up against her chest he could just barely make out the shape of her breasts and perhaps the rosy pink of her areola. It was hard to tell, though, because of the dim lighting in the bathroom. Leon had avoided looking any lower than Ada's breasts for fear of animalistic urges taking hold of him.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Leon snapped irritably as he felt sweat pool on his upper lip. His self-restraint was barely intact. Anymore coaxing from her and he'd lose it completely.

"I would; care to enlighten me?" Ada suggested and raised an eyebrow. Leon said nothing and desperately tried to push the increasingly obscene images from his mind.

Without warning, Ada lunged forward. Before he could react he felt her nimble hands wrap around his neck and her bare chest press against his. A very short time later he realized he could feel her entire bulk on top of him. She was essentially lying on top of him, which made him all too aware of the massive erection that was no doubt poking her lower abdomen.

"Someone's happy to see me," she said with an amused smile, her mouth inches from his. Leon was having a hard time focusing on her face rather than her lips with how close she was to him.

"Ada, this is wrong," Leon stammered and managed to look her in the eye. For just a second he saw a flicker of doubt flash in Ada's eyes before it was replaced by mischievous glee.

"So wrong, I know," she whispered. Before he could say more or even attempt to regain control of himself, her lips pressed against his. It was a feather-light touch, but if that was all she'd planned on then she was in for a surprise. The moment Ada's soft lips met Leon's, his self-control crumbled.

The hands that had been securely glued to his sides darted up to encircle her waist and seal her to him. He returned her soft kiss with a rough, passionate, aggressive nip, and despite her surprise she responded in kind, opening her mouth and inviting him in. Leon's tongue boldly plunged forward and briefly danced with Ada's before it trailed over her lower lip. His hands ran up along her back, one finding purchase at the base of her head the other hitching her leg over his hip. She resisted this, though only briefly, and Leon felt encouraged by her consent.

However, it was in his moment of ego that one of Ada's hands left Leon's neck and slipped away entirely. He briefly became aware of a shift in her weight as if she were trying to lean out the side of the tub and toward the toilet. If he'd been in any other state of mind Leon would've instantly recognized what she was trying to do, but in that moment he was so caught up in their touching bodies and deep kisses that he missed it altogether.

Leon slid the hand that had been at Ada's neck down to move her other leg over his opposite hip. All higher thought had fled and primal instinct was all that remained. However just as Leon arched toward her, Ada suddenly rolled off of him and entirely out of the tub. The movement happened so fast that Leon only caught sight of her dark head moving in a blur past his face. Leon blinked in confusion and turned toward the direction Ada had gone.

Ada stood at the doorway to the bathroom again, her skirt somehow already on and her halter top already sliding into place. Leon just barely caught sight of the tips of her breasts before the view was obscured completely by her blouse. Leon briefly noted that her bra and panties still lie discarded on the floor.

Logic and realization slowly began to return to Leon's heavily fogged mind. He suddenly remembered the jump drive and his shirt. To his dismay, the shirt now lay on the floor, the breast pocket open with darkened fingerprints wet from water on it. Leon turned back to Ada and frowned, heavily.

"You are a piece of work, you know that?" He growled.

"It's always a pleasure, but I've got a ride to catch," Ada said simply and straightened out her skirt and blouse. Leon noted that her cheeks were rosy and briefly wondered if she'd been enjoying their little tryst after all.

"Bullshit," Leon snapped. Ada finally met Leon's angry glare and gave him one of her sultry smiles but the expression failed to meet her eyes.

"Thanks for the bath," Ada said and turned on her heel to leave.

Leon thought about charging out of the tub and chasing after her. He imagined himself running up to her and turning her around; demanding she tell him the truth and explain herself. And briefly he entertained the idea of her confessing her feelings of love and devotion for him. However, Leon remembered that this was Ada he was thinking about and not a normal woman. He knew how he felt about her; knew that somehow against all reason he loved this strange, devious woman. But he didn't know if she felt the same or if she was even capable of such an emotion.

Plus he was naked, which would really complicate chasing after her.

Leon leaned back against the tub in defeat. The sneaky little spider had struck again.

"You forgot your panties," Leon called after her and for a moment hoped she'd come trotting back to retrieve them.

"Consider them a souvenir," Ada called from the shadows of his bedroom.

No such luck.


	9. Beneath the Surface

**A/N:**

**Avogadro602**: Eurgh, sorry for the delay in posting. I hurt all over thanks to some fun (and mandatory) athletic stuff that has kept me busy all weekend. So that's why this is a day late. Buut in other news, you guys reviewed! _Thank_ you! :-D We're very happy to hear that you guys are liking it so far. And if you enjoyed getting an update mid-week, that could possibly happen again…

**NeuroticBanana: **Unlike Avogadro, I do not hurt all over because I wasn't doing 'mandatory' athletic stuff…because I'm a grown up and she's not. Just kidding! Do please enjoy this chapter, it kind of marks the beginning of the story really taking off in my opinion; it gets pretty fast from here on out. And, omg THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS, they made our day! Seriously, they did. We squealed like little girls when we saw reviews, so please keep us squealing like little girls and continue to review…we do so love them! As always, read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: We make no claims to own Resident Evil, so there.

Cover artwork is by LoneWolf117 from Deviantart.

**Chapter 9: **

**Beneath the Surface**

Felix had to be the worst person in creation to spend two hours locked in a car with. An awkward tension had settled over them about thirty seconds after they'd gotten in the car and persisted ever since. Leon would never have willingly chosen this course of action—his new partner gave him the creeps—but after an emergency mission assignment from Hunnigan this morning, he had no choice. Apparently, Panacea had gone completely dark overnight. One minute they were a functioning pharmaceutical company, and in the next everyone who worked there, even the head of the company, had become unreachable. With his experience on the case, Leon and Felix were sent to investigate and determine whether there was any association with Isaac's disappearance. Which led to his current predicament.

Leon briefly tore his eyes away from the road to glance at his unnaturally silent partner. Agent Jones stared straight ahead, stiff backed and blank faced. For the past hour Leon had been trying desperately to make small talk, and failing horribly. His first suggestion had been that they listen to music, which Felix had quickly declined, labeling it as an "unnecessary distraction". Then he'd tried to politely inquire about his history.

"It is not important to the mission," came Felix's logical answer.

_What is this guy, _Leon thought to himself, _a robot? _He laughed in an attempt to ease the tension, but it came out sounding fake and only made things worse. "It might not be directly related to the mission," Leon reasoned, "But building up trust between partners is important. I thought we could get to know each other a little."

"Emotional ties are a hindrance to our successful completion of the mission." Felix's cold grey eyes stared straight ahead. "This line of work is dangerous. Should something happen to one of us, trite attachments could inhibit our ability to meet the desired goals."

A crease formed on his brow. Felix did make a cold, unfeeling sort of sense, but a good relationship with your partner was essential. How could Felix argue against that? "That may be, but partners _also _have to rely on each other. I have to know I can depend on you in a firefight."

At this Felix turned his face toward Leon, his gaze uncomfortably piercing. "You can't rely on anyone in a firefight except yourself."

A decent amount of outrage bubbled up in Leon's chest. _Excuse me? _This was coming from his new _partner_? "Are you saying—"

Felix cut him off, his gaze still drilling into him. "All people have a price. You may have thought that you and your previous partners had some sort of unbreakable trust. Yet all bonds can be broken. Time and time again history has proven that loyalty is not earned, but bought. With the right tools even the strongest can be bent to another's will; manipulated into doing unspeakable things. In fact," the corner of his mouth twitched upward as if fighting a smile, "Wasn't it your previous partner, Ms. Harper, who was blackmailed into sabotaging the president's security?"

A chill ran through Leon's veins. He swallowed heavily. "She was trying to save her sister. It wasn't her fault."

"As I said before," Felix replied robotically and turned to face forward again, "Everyone has a price."

Leon didn't ask about Felix's personal life after that.

The more time Leon spent around his new partner the stranger he seemed. He carried himself with a cold calculation that implied maturity, and yet his skin was oddly smooth. Felix must have taken very good care of his face… or perhaps the man just never had enough expression to form wrinkles.

Leon cleared his throat, the agonizingly uncomfortable silence between them beginning to get to his head. "So what do you think about this weather we're having?" he asked in a last ditch effort to get Felix talking. The mixture of snow and rain they'd had earlier this week had brought on a dense, low hanging fog. It might've been a pitiful attempt, but Leon was getting pretty desperate at this point.

"It's fog," Felix said simply.

_Nice way to state the obvious, _Leon silently replied. He caught sight of the sign that marked their exit and breathed an internal sigh of relief. _About damn time! _

The parking lot of Panacea was full when they got there. Clearly, no one had left here with their own vehicle. Leon pulled into a space at the far end, away from the entrance. It was better to be safe than sorry; neither of them knew what was in there and this would ensure nothing happened to their only method of transportation. Leon turned off the car and stepped out, staring up at the large complex peeking out of the fog as he slammed the door shut. It looked… deserted.

"Well," Leon began with mild reluctance, "There's nothing left to do now but head on in."

"We should spend no longer than necessary in our search," Felix cautioned as they approached the tall glass doors, "There's no telling what danger we may find."

For once Leon agreed with him.

The lobby was completely empty. "Hello?" Leon called as they walked up to the receptionist's desk, "Anybody home?"

Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw Felix's eye twitch. "Do you expect a response?"

"Not really," Leon replied absently as he leaned over the desk, looking for any signs of what could have caused this sudden disappearance. "But if we did find someone around, they might be able to tell us what happened here." A flicker of red light caught his eye and he moved around to the other side of the desk. "Come look at this."

The light was coming from a small bulb on the underside of the desk. Leon crouched down to get a better look and Felix stepped in behind him. The bulb was flashing every few seconds with a bright and alarming red color. "Some sort of alarm has been triggered here." Leon stood and examined the top of the desk. An unfinished crossword puzzle sat on top of the keyboard as if dropped there in haste. One word was half-written, stopped in mid-letter. "And they left in a hurry."

Felix glanced up to the ceiling, eyeing the sprinkler system. "If there was a fire the sprinklers would have gone off."

Leon nodded, somber. "Yeah… and I get the feeling this is throughout the entire building, not just here. It's too quiet." Felix met his eyes with an alert stare. It was as close to an agreement as he was going to get. "Let's move on."

Panacea's main floor was brightly decorated. A cheery yellow patterned carpet covered the floors. Pictures of smiling families and happy childrenoccasionally littered the walls, obviously attempting to send the message of a "family friendly" pharmaceutical company. Of course given that the workers here had disappeared overnight, Leon wasn't sure he believed that.

They entered a hallway to the left of the front desk, poking their heads into offices as they went. In each one they found empty chairs behind abandoned desks. Leon noticed with a growing sense of alarm that every door they crossed was left ajar. Files had been left sitting wide open for the world to see. In the third office (usually inhabited by a "Margaret Taylor" if the name outside the door was correct) they'd found a computer still on. When Leon nudged the mouse it flared to life, revealing an unfinished e-mail. Margaret had been in the middle of an angry message complaining about how the Janitor never took out the trash in her room. The last line stopped midsentence and ended with gibberish, as if someone had suddenly pressed down on the entire keyboard at once. Margaret had been startled before she left.

By the time they had reached the end of the hallway, Leon's lips had pressed into a tight line. "Something scared these people pretty bad to make them just up and leave like this," he remarked as they rounded the corner.

"It is curious," Felix agreed, though his face remained untouched by the strangeness around him.

Leon's footsteps slowed as he caught sight of a large metal door ahead. "This is odd," he mumbled quietly. It was entirely different from the pale wood doors used by all the offices they'd come across so far. As they drew closer, the unusual details about it became even more obvious: not only was it made of a very heavy metal material, but it also had no knob. There was only a card reader and a key pad to the right of the door; it must've been electronically controlled. He pressed his ear against the cool metal, straining to hear something from the other side.

"Trying to open that door may be inadvisable," Felix cautioned behind him, ever the robot. "We have no idea what this room was used for. More information would be useful."

With his face turned away, Leon allowed himself to roll his eyes and continued to listen. "I know. That's why I'm trying to listen."

Again he strained his ears for a sound. "We also lack the means to open it," Felix piped up after another second, interrupting him.

Leon sighed and gave up, stepping away from the door. "I guess we'll just have to keep our eyes open." Felix gave a small nod and they started again in their search.

The hallway looped around, eventually meeting back up with the lobby. By the time they had walked all of it, they had still only found empty offices.

"An entire floor with no occupants or information," Felix commented softly and eyed Leon with a speculative gaze. "What do we do now, Agent Kennedy?" His words implied that Leon was the senior officer, but his face gave no hint of bending to any superiority other than his own. Paranoia wiggled in to the back of his brain. Had Felix been sent here to evaluate his performance?

He tried to shake off the feeling, focusing instead on the current situation. "This place has a basement right?" Leon caught sight of an elevator across the way and began marching toward it. "Companies like this always have more going on below ground." As he approached the doors though,he hesitated. This new partnership of his had been rocky to begin with, and the conversation on the ride over hadn't helped to alleviate any of Leon's concerns. Somehow being trapped underground with a man like Felix didn't sound very inviting.

As if able to sense his discomfort, Felix gestured forward with one hand. "After you."

Leon shoved his fears aside and stepped into the elevator. Felix followed, pressing the button to close the doors once inside. Questionable morality or not, Felix was the only help he had on this mission. The line of buttons inside presented them with three options: the lobby where they were currently at, the basement, and a sub-basement. Leon made a quick decision and pushed the button for the basement. The elevator jerked slightly and then began its descent, sending Leon's stomach into his throat.

Unlike the first floor, they hadn't bothered to decorate the basement. Grey linoleum stretched out down the hallway, lit by a cold light from the fixtures above. Easy to clean, he suspected. The no-nonsense white walls held no friendly pictures to soften the face of scientific research. Obviously they weren't concerned about appearances here. They'd stepped into where the real work was done.

The doors down this corridor were more spaced out than the first level had been, leading to large laboratory rooms rather than offices. The first was a few paces out of the elevator on their right. Felix stepped ahead of him and peaked through the small, vertical window built into the door. "Looks to be computers mostly," he said and stepped aside so that Leon could look.

Sure enough, he caught sight of the numerous blinking green lights peaking back at him from atop black benches. He tried the knob, only to find it locked. His lips pressed into a thin line. "Hmmm," he hummed to himself.

"Do we move forward, Agent Kennedy?" Felix asked passively.

"Yeah," Leon sighed, "This place seems pretty big. We better get a move on if we want to do a thorough search."

Felix's sharp eyes darted around the hallway. "We could cover more ground if we split up."

Leon shook his head. As much as Felix irritated him, searching this place alone was just asking for trouble. "No, we stick together. The safest approach when in the field is to always have someone to watch your back."

Felix nodded, but said nothing.

The next room was up the hallway a good ways, past a bathroom that Leon had poked his head into and found empty as they stepped by. A black void was the only thing visible through the small window. He tried the knob, almost hoping it would be locked. The blackness waiting for them on the other side only served as a reminder that they were indeed underground. There were no windows down here.

When the knob turned he took one cautious step inside, blindly feeling for a switch. At last he found one, and light suddenly flooded the room. He blinked as his eyes adjusted.

They were surrounded by a maze of very large machines. Some were the size of refrigerators and were nearly as tall as the ceiling, blocking him from getting a full view of the room. Others were shorter and had the mass of a small car, blocking his path as he weaved between counters and blinking lights. Leon had no idea what they all were used for, but he guessed they were expensive.

As they made their way further in, Leon began to realize that this room was bigger than he'd expected. He rounded a corner expecting to find the opposite wall, only to instead be met with more of the room—and more machines. The collective humming of electronics grew loud as they reached the center. He stopped to stare at an instrument in the middle of the room which he'd initially mistaken for a large pillar. It was a dark grey blob that was wider than he could reach and almost touched the ceiling. Buttons and switches covered its surface. Built into the instrument next to them was what looked like a microwave. A sign was taped to it with the words, "_KEEP FLAMMABLES AWAY WHEN IN USE" _written on it.

"Any idea what this thing is supposed to do?" He called out to Felix, but his voice was drowned out in the hum of the instruments. He tore his gaze from the machine and surveyed the room around him. A hodgepodge of machines blinked back at him, obstructing his view. "Felix?"

If his partner had heard him, he did not respond. Leon stepped around to the other side of the large instrument. "Felix?" he called again, louder this time.

An empty room filled with humming machinery was all that answered.

"Shit," he cursed to himself and marched towards the back of the room, weaving around obstacles as he went. Maybe he'd just gotten ahead… "_Felix?" _He shouted as he broke through the last of the machinery. When he finally saw the opposite wall, he cursed again.

This room had a back door.

Had Felix abandoned him? Had he left through this very door when Leon wasn't looking? _Had something else come in? _Leon spun around, angling his back to the nearest wall and searching the room. Bulky shapes;blinking lights. Electronics. Anything could be hiding in here. Was Felix lying dead behind one of these machines?

Leon swallowed and forced the pulse throbbing at his throat to calm. Felix had probably gotten lost in the maze of machinery and assumed Leon had gone ahead without him. Or he'd gone off ahead, tired of Leon's careful searching. Perhaps he was waiting for him in the hallway. Leon approached the door and cautiously stepped through into the unfamiliar hall.

…or perhaps not. The hallway stood empty, and he was left in an unfamiliar part of the building. Felix had disappeared without a trace, just like the people who used to work here…

A scratching sound from farther down the hallway caught his attention. He waited in a tense silence before the noise returned. Something… metal, maybe? It seemed to be coming from several doors down, in a darker part of the hall. The light above had burnt out, casting the area in darkness. Down here the shadows were hard to keep out.

With narrowed eyes, Leon unholstered his gun and stepped into the gloom. Several feet ahead, a lone halo of light shone out from behind a laboratory door. He crept towards it quietly and the scratching grew steadily louder. Pistol ready, he reached for the door and turned the handle with his free hand.

His gun was trained on the movement the moment he was inside. It took a moment for his brain to make sense of what he was seeing, but when it did he lowered his gun with a sigh. "Rats."

Beady little eyes stared back at him from iron cages. He gave the room a once over and shook his head before heading back to the hallway. Grumbling quietly to himself, he began walking back towards the room with the humming machinery. Maybe Felix was waiting for him in the _other _hallway. Too many real life nightmares had made him skittish. Really, there was no reason to—

A door closed behind him.

Leon whirled around, snapping his gun into position and squinting into the darkness. "Who's there?" he growled. Screw skittishness. His instincts were _right, _dammit_. _

A soft clicking noise echoed from the black void, followed by another. They fell into a steady rhythm, growing louder and louder until…

"Fancy meeting you here."

She emerged from the shadows like she'd been born in them, the dark black and crimson of her dress melting into the gloom. Only the paleness of her face and arms allowed him to make out her form.

Leon slowly lowered his gun. A wave of embarrassment flooded over him, followed by anger. "_Ada?" _

"Why do I feel you're not happy to see me?" She taunted, stepping into the light and allowing him to see the smirk on her face. "Something on your mind? Or perhaps…" she sashayed towards him, "…someone?"

The memory of her body, wet and naked and pressed against him, flashed through his mind. He scoffed at her and stepped away. "Don't think the same trick will work twice, Ada."

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "What trick?"

"Just tell me what you're doing here," he growled, taking another step back. The more distance they had between them, the less likely she was going to be able to pull anything.

Her eyes ran over him, amused, before flickering away towards the lighted end of the hallway. "Strange isn't it that everyone in this compound just disappears all at once?"

Something ugly stirred in his chest that he couldn't put his finger on. Was that… anger? Betrayal? Doubt? "What's strange is that you just _happen _to be here at the same time," he snapped. "Did you have something to do with this? With these people disappearing?"

Ada's smile slipped from her face as her gaze jerked back to him. "No. I didn't." Her eyes fell closed, her face suddenly tired.

Leon's anger derailed, thrown off by the unusual reaction. He tried to hang on to it, tried to remind himself how he couldn't trust the woman and her shifty ways, but already it was falling from him like sand through his fingers. He sighed heavily. "Are you going to tell me why you're here or not?"

Her eyes cracked open. "How about I give you the grand tour instead?"

He stepped aside and gestured for her to pass. "Lead the way."

* * *

><p>She led him down the hall toward the light end. "We're in the south wing of the first basement," she announced as they walked. "This is where they conducted the early test phases of their research."<p>

Leon couldn't stop himself from watching the tail of her dress swish back and forth between her ankles. You wouldn't think that evening wear would be ideal clothing for a field mission, but Ada always managed it with style. "You've been through this whole place?"

She didn't look back at him. "Most of it. As far as I can tell, it's nearly empty."

"Nearly?" he asked.

"We're here, aren't we?" She paused a moment, then added in a repulsed voice, "And there's _him, _of course."

Leon's face twisted up in confusion. _Him? _"You're not talking about my partner, are you? Felix?"

Ada laughed softly with little humor. "Is that what he's calling himself now?"

He jogged up to walk beside her, interest piquing. "Wait, you know Felix? How?"

Her face was unamused, her lips a tight line. "We've had our fair share of encounters in the past." She turned her face to meet his gaze. "You certainly know how to pick dangerous friends."

Leon tensed. Had he been right about Felix after all? He opened his mouth to speak but Ada beat him to it.

"Don't worry," she assured with a dry smile, looking ahead, "If he'd wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already."

His eyes narrowed and he shook his head. If Felix had worked with Ada… "Are you telling me he's not an agent?"

She laughed again as they reached the intersection at the end of the hallway and came to a stop. Whether it was real or faked he couldn't tell. "Now I didn't say that, did I?" She didn't wait for him to respond before continuing, gesturing to the left with an outstretched arm. "To our left is the west wing of the first basement, where you and your friend first came down here." She pointed to the right. "And in the other direction, the east wing. It contains mostly offices of head scientists… and if you're feeling adventurous, a stairway that will take you to the restricted second basement."

"What about the elevator I came out of?" he asked, looking to the west. "Couldn't that take me to the lower level?"

"Using that elevator to go to the lowest level requires a retinal scan." She grinned when he snapped around to stare at her in surprise. "Didn't notice the lens hidden amongst the buttons, did you? They conceal it well."

The gears turned quickly in his head. "The elevator requires a retinal scan, but the stairway doesn't? It doesn't make much sense for them to lock one door but not the other."

She nodded. "That's why the stairway used to be locked with an electronic passcode."

"Used to be'?" He repeated.

"It seems that _someone _hacked into the keypad, and left the door wide open." She crossed her arms and turned to face him fully. "So Leon, which way will it be?"

_Someone _hacked into the keypad, huh? _Felix couldn't have gotten that far ahead already, could he? _Or was she referring to herself? He lifted his head and regarded her carefully. "You know Felix, right?" Her face tightened fractionally at the name, but she nodded. "Is there any reason he would want to go to the lowest level?"

"Hmmm," she hummed and sauntered up to the wall to lean against it, arms still crossed. "I can't say. The last time I had contact with him was quite some time ago. He could have any number of motivations now. But," she paused and met his gaze, "I am fairly certain that the key to finding out whatever happened here lies down there."

He glanced to the west. _Could Felix be waiting for me just outside the room with the machinery? Was it an honest mix-up when we got separated in the midst of the loud hum of electronics? _His eyes swiveled to the right. _…or did he abandon me? _

Ada tapped her fingers against the wall. "I'm waiting."

He sucked in a breath and slowly let it out. "The east."

Her smile widened as she stepped off the wall. "A daring choice." She winked at him before turning and starting forward. "I like your taste."

He felt himself flush lightly and shook it off, following behind her. His eyes pointedly avoided the tempting curve of her hips. "So how is it you know Felix again?" he called to her.

"We shared a common interest, once upon a time." He waited for her to say more, but she remained silent.

He rolled his eyes. How silly he'd been to expect a straight answer. This _was _Ada he was talking to. Ada, who'd died for him, and then come back to life just to rub it in his face. The woman who'd slipped into a bath with him, naked as the day she was born, only to step away and steal what she needed at the last second…and leave her panties behind. Yet despite all this there was a possibility that Felix, his icicle of a partner, knew her mysterious ways better than himself. He let out a dry chuckle as some of his earlier irritation returned. "Give him any _souvenirs _along the way?" he muttered just loud enough for her to hear.

At his words the steady clicking of her heels stopped. She threw her head back and laughed. "I take it you're enjoying my gift, then?" she teased, grinning at him.

As his frustration grew, he was determined not to see the rosy hue in her cheeks, the faint sparkle in her eyes. If she were any other woman, he might've thought she was actually innocently flirting with him.

He marched ahead, shaking his head and keeping his mouth shut before he said something he'd regret. He made it halfway down the hall, and then back tracked as a name on a door caught his eye.

"Well I'll be…"

'ISAAC REDFERN' was engraved in a plaque in the middle of the door. Forgetting his annoyance and with excitement building in his stomach, he tried the knob. Locked. "Dammit," he cursed and turned to Ada, who was hovering behind him and still smirking. "You wouldn't happen to be able to pick locks, would you?"

Her smile turned sly. "Don't have to." Two fingers slid into the v-neck of her dress and pulled out something shiny. "I have a key." She held it up for him to see as she slithered past.

Leon let out a short, disbelieving breath, unable to keep a hint of jealousy out of his voice. "_Really? _You keep it in your _bra_?"

Her smirk spread and she looked over her shoulder as the key slid home. "I had to keep it safe, didn't I?" The lock clicked and the door fell open at her touch. She stepped aside to let him pass. "It's all yours," she announced, tucking the key back into her dress. His eyes followed the movement, lips twitching into a frown.

"That's not a safe place from my experience," he grumbled quietly.

His quiet comment reached her ears and her brows shot up, lips parted in surprise. "I really got into your head this time," she commented. It was not a question.

He tried to stop the blush from rising to his face and failed. Damn, she made him feel like a teenager. "You're not in my head," he lied.

The smirk returned to her face and she leaned back against Isaac's office wall, arms crossed. "I wasn't talking about the one on your shoulders." Her eyes drifted down…

He pivoted on his heel and turned away. Work. He had work to do. He couldn't afford Ada's distractions. Smooth laughter mocked him from behind. He forcibly ignored it and focused on searching the office. Luckily for him, Ada kept any further comments to herself.

Isaac's office, while still cluttered, was cleaner than his apartment had been. A bookshelf sat in the corner, and in the center of the room a mahogany desk. Leon walked over to it, and after finding nothing useful on it tugged at a drawer. Upon opening it, he discovered a bound notebook labeled '_Isaac Redfern, 2014 Panacea Lab'_. He vaguely remembered a high school biology course that made him make something like this. Apparently real researchers actually used this stuff. It could be interesting… He glanced up to Ada, who continued to silently smirk at him from the other end of the office. Whatever was in this notebook, she didn't seem very interested. She probably bribed her way in here when he first went missing._ No she didn't, _a voice in his head shot back, _she has a _key. He frowned down at the notebook and flipped it open.

For the most part, it appeared to be a pretty standard record of his activities and observations in the lab. Leon flipped to the last couple of pages. The last entry was dated two days before Isaac's last recorded correspondence.

_The lab techs down on the sub-basement managed to get the laser on the sequencer misaligned again. Fixed it (since the rest of these morons don't know how) and conducted an impromptu check on the human trials. _

_Subjects appeared to show continued improvement of symptoms, though one is complaining of light sensitivity. Will have to check on the sequence of the delivery phage strain tomorrow. All disease causing sequences should have been removed by now. _

A strange spattering sound brought his attention back to reality. A dark red dot was now in the center of the page. He stared at it in confusion.

"That's new," Ada whispered from over his shoulder, making him start at her close proximity. She must've moved when he wasn't looking.

Leon looked back to the notebook, tilting it in the light. "…It looks like blood," he whispered in confusion. The red spot began to run down the page. As they stared, a second red spot dropped onto the paper. They both looked up. A dark red stain had begun to form on the ceiling tiles.

They both stepped back, Leon instinctively putting a hand in front of Ada. "There's something above us," Ada murmured. Leon stared for a moment longer, then tore his gaze away to search around the room. Dark drips continued to fall from the ceiling.

"What we need is a stick."

It took them several minutes to find a janitorial closet. When they returned with a broom in hand, a small pool had formed. Leon stood on a chair and used the long handle to poke the ceiling tile aside. As soon as it moved, a red shower splattered the floor. He flinched back and waited for the dripping to return to its normal rate before pulling out a flashlight. Cautiously, he aimed the beam of light into the dark gap.

"It's coming from the first floor," he commented, watching the liquid seep through a small crack. He turned to look at Ada, mentally going over what he'd discovered of the layout so far. "Ada, do you know what room we're under?"

Her face grew distant for a moment. "It's…"

There was only one room he hadn't been able to get in upstairs. A heavy metal door flashed through his mind.

"…a panic room," she finished. A heavy silence descended on them.

_Drip. Drip. Drip. _

A thought struck Leon and he bent down, scanning the underside of Isaac's desk. Sure enough, a little red light was blinking. He stood slowly. "So these people… they went to the panic room." His eyes were drawn back up to the dripping ceiling. "And something killed them in there."

Ada hadn't looked away from the black, dripping hole now in the ceiling. "It would seem so."

He shook his head, a mixture of horror and disgust welling up in his throat. "But why?"

She slowly lowered her head to meet his gaze. "I don't know." Her face turned toward the door. "But I know where to find out."

She started toward the door and he followed, carefully side stepping the growing puddle of blood. "What I don't understand," he said as they left the room and started back down the hall, "Is where you fit in all this."

"There are some things you're better off not knowing," she answered cryptically and continued walking.

"Why are you even helping me?" he growled out in exacerbation. "We've met maybe half a dozen times. Whatever this is between us, we know next to nothing about each other."

Ahead of him she stopped walking. Her shoulders sagged fractionally—one blink and he would have missed it. He waited behind her, confused and transfixed by the subtle change.

"Ada?"

Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper. "I know _everything _about you, Leon."

He cleared his throat, finding it suddenly dry, and walked up beside her. "I don't understand."

When she turned her face to meet him, he half expected to find her smirking at him, taunting him in the way only she could. Insteadher dark eyes were mysteriously intense. She turned and stepped toward him, heels echoing as she walked. It was only when she was close enough for him to feel the heat from her skin that she stopped. "I know more about you than your own mother."

The way she was studying his face gave him goosebumps. There was knowledge in her eyes. She was everywhere, saw everything. He shook his head, fighting breathlessness. "What… what are you talking about?"

One hand reached up to trace his cheek with a feather light touch. He barely resisted the urge to lean into her fingers. Her brows drew together ever so slightly, her lips parted. "Leon…"

He managed to shake his head again and her hand fell back to her side. "Ada, you're not making any—"

There was a noise from the stairway beyond and they both flinched. Leon's head snapped back to look, but found nothing there. When he turned back, she was gone. _Just like a ghost, _he thought. He suppressed a shiver and ran a hand through his hair. Once again, he was left alone in the abandoned complex.

And the stairway ahead was waiting.

He half grunted, half chuckled before moving again.

"Figures."


	10. Highly Flammable

**A/N: **

**NeuroticBanana: **Please enjoy and thank you so much for the reviews so far! We do very much enjoy getting them. Makes us happy to keep going! Have a fun read as things are about to get a little intense!

**Avogadro602:** Hope you like the chapter!

Disclaimer: We couldn't handle the Resident Evil Fandom, so we gave it to Capcom. True Story. In other news, that was a lie.

Cover Art was done by LoneWolf117 from deviantart.

**Chapter 10:**

**Highly Flammable **

Leon had never been a big fan of dark stairwells; they always seemed to carry something unpleasant with them. It was one thing to face a well-lit set of stairs; it was an entirely different story to face one in a shroud of darkness. Despite all he'd been through, he could still be a victim to fear.

The door to the stairwell had been bulky and reinforced, designed to keep intruders out, or keep whatever was inside locked up tight. Leon shuddered at that thought and pressed forward, on into the blackness of the empty stairwell. As the heavy door had slammed shut behind him, Leon flipped on the headlight that he always brought with him on assignments. The light illuminated concrete stairs and a red handrail. Leon felt a chill run through him as he touched his hand to the icy cool metal. Slowly he began his descent down the stairs.

It was eerily quiet in the corridor—the only sound echoing in Leon's ears were his own footfalls. Despite the light shining brightly from behind one of his ears, there were many shadows that remained, making him jumpy. He kept thinking he was seeing things just at the periphery of his vision; sinister things. He was so distracted and skittish that when he finally reached the end of the stairwell, he nearly ran into the door.

"Jesus," Leon murmured to himself while taking deep breaths to help slow his rapidly beating heart. After a few calming breaths, Leon finally glanced up at the door to the sub-basement. It was just like the heavy metal door that had led to the stairwell: thick and reinforced.

A large white sign with bold red lettering was posted onto the door.

SUB-BASEMENT LEVEL

AUTHORIZED PERSONNNEL ONLY

CREDENTIALS REQUIRED

KEY CODE ENTRY REQUIRED

Leon read the sign with mild interest; he'd suspected as much for a facility that was assumedly doing fairly serious biohazard testing. As Leon's hand nearly sealed over the handle to the door he took note of the security key pad next to it. He leaned closer to the key pad and examined it. Cautiously, Leon poked a finger into one of the soft keys to see if anything happened. But the key pad showed no signs of life and for all intents and purposes seemed utterly dead. Not for the first time Leon wondered who else had been in this facility other than himself. He knew Ada had been here but he had his doubts about her being the one to hack into the sub-basement; but then again, one could never be sure of anything with a woman like that.

Backing away from the key pad, Leon looked back to the door and took hold of the door handle, taking mild comfort in the cool metal in his hand. Who knew what lied beyond the safety of this door. Leon warily opened the door to what awaited beyond.

Utter darkness greeted Leon. The only bit of light came from his overhead lamp, and that didn't illuminate much. Leon swallowed and took a step forward into the blackness.

Lights abruptly flickered on, making Leon tense in surprise. He blinked at the sudden brightness and slowly looked around the room he was now standing in. He was at the end of a fairly short hallway with two banks of elevators on his left. The walls were a dull gray in color and the floor was an incredibly shiny white, as if they had recently been waxed and buffed. There were no pictures adorning the walls or any such nonsense; obviously this part of Panacea was strictly for science.

Leon took a few tentative steps further into the hall and was relieved to see more lights flicker on, apparently responding to his movement. He could make out a large white desk with dead computer monitors on it vaguely reminiscent to a security station. A bolded silver lettering on the desk read, SECURITY. Leon moved forward with more purpose now that he could see the desk. As he drew closer he saw vacant chairs at the desk and a thick metal door at the back of the wall behind the security counter. Leon moved forward toward the door but a small corridor to the side of the security desk caught his eye and made him stop.

A pair of double doors sat square in the middle of the corridor with AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY etched into the paint in bright red letters. Leon had a feeling that those doors would lead him further into the facility and likely into whatever labs Panacea had been testing in.

Save that for a little later, Leon thought to himself and moved back over to the desk. As he walked around the side of the counter to gain access to the computers and chairs, Leon stopped dead in his tracks when his eyes landed on what stained the floor.

There on the desk's surface, the chairs, and in a large quantity outside the door on the back wall were blood stains. Leon took note of blood splatters on the computer monitors as well. Slowly he moved forward to examine the ugly stains more closely.

He recognized the red spatter on the counter and monitors. They came from bullet wounds. However, the stains on the chairs and floor were a deeper set of red as the blood had collected there from the victim's motionless body. There was something a little bit off about the blood on the floor around the chairs and the blood at the door. Leon suddenly realized what it was; they were drag marks. Someone had dragged bleeding bodies from the chair to the room behind the desk.

After this realization Leon automatically pulled out his gun and approached the metal door against the back wall. He opened his mouth to speak but thought better of it and instead took hold of the door handle and turned. To his surprise however, the door did not open; it was locked. Leon tried again only to face the same result. He stepped back from the door and shook his head in confusion. There were bodies behind that door, he was certain of it, but whoever or whatever had put them there had also locked the door.

For a moment Leon considered trying to break down the door but decided against it due to the door's heavy, reinforced construction. Turning away from the security station, Leon moved down the opposite end of the hall. His search revealed a little sitting area at the end of the hallway and much to his relief, no more blood.

At last Leon returned to the security station and stared down the double doors. He had a sinking feeling that whatever he found in the depths of the sub-basement would not be pleasant. There were no peek holes in the double doors so Leon had no clue what awaited beyond. With a deep breath, Leon slowly pushed open the door and stepped through.

Again lights flickered on and illuminated Leon's path, except this time not all the lights came on. A few of the overhead lights were blinking sporadically as if they were having a hard time getting enough power. Some of them failed to turn on all together. Leon sighed and pressed forward, hoping that he wouldn't run into more power problems farther along.

Leon walked along a fairly straight forward hallway with the same gray walls and shiny white floors. There was no blood to be seen. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, save the eerie quiet. Again, the only sounds to be heard through the empty hallway were his own footfalls and the unnatural silence that followed. Leon expected to hear the hum of machinery or the whir of overhead air coming on, but there was nothing; nothing but the unnerving stillness of the hall.

As Leon kept walking he caught sight of a sign not too far ahead of him on the wall. Leon picked up his pace so that he could more easily make out the writing on the sign. As he grew closer Leon realized that he'd come to a crossroads in the hall. He could continue going forward or head left or right. The sign Leon had spotted earlier was indicating what lay ahead and read:

LABS 1-7

The idea of heading toward the labs made Leon uneasy. He'd seen what unspeakable things could come out of labs like this. The path to the left and right also had signs indicating where they led.

The sign on the left read:

PROFESSIONAL OFFICES & CONFERENCE ROOMS A & B

The sign on the right read:

LABS 8-14

With little hesitation Leon turned to the left and headed down the hall that would take him to the professional offices and conference rooms. The thought of heading toward the labs unnerved him. It reminded him far too much of Raccoon City and the horrors he'd been witness to.

This hallway was much of the same with gray walls and white floors. Lights continued to flicker on as he moved down the hall, ever aware of his loud footsteps in an otherwise dead quiet hall. There were various doors on either side of the corridor. Judging by the nameplates on them, Leon guessed these were the professional offices. He'd tried a few of the doorknobs but had been disappointed to discover that they all appeared locked.

Leon was fairly certain he was reaching the end of the hall when he noticed a dark stain marring the otherwise spotless white floors. Cautiously, Leon continued forward feeling anxiety mount in his stomach as he drew closer to the ugly stain. When he was close enough, the lights flickered on at his movement and allowed him to see the blemished surface, confirming his earlier suspicions that it was indeed blood.

Swallowing down his unease, Leon looked up at the door that loomed over the dried crimson stain. There was a little sign next to the door that identified it as 'Conference Room A'. Leon stepped forward, avoiding the large pool of dried blood, and peeked in the little peep hole in the door. It was dark in the room which made it impossible for Leon to make out anything. Leon waited quietly for a moment to listen for any noises coming from within, but heard nothing. Tentatively, Leon rapped his knuckles against the door. He hated the echoing sound his knuckles seemed to make against the wooden surface. There was no response to his knock but he'd expected that, so Leon gingerly took hold of the doorknob and turned. Much to his surprise, it opened.

He stood at the threshold of the door, the sinister secrets of this room just begging to be discovered. Leon stepped into the room and blinked as one or two of the overhead lights flipped on. What Leon saw as the lights came on made his mouth fall open in shock.

There was a large wooden table in the center of the room with what looked like a projector in the center. Several chairs were stationed around the table and several people were clearly visible in these chairs. However, it was not the discovery of people that brought Leon's shocked stare; it was the cold blooded execution style bullet wounds in their heads.

Four of the six chairs were occupied by well-dressed business men that Leon naturally would assume were CEO types. And every single one of them had a bullet hole in their head, their brains splattered on the wall. The two unoccupied chairs also had quite a bit of blood on them. A bloodied body was slumped next to one. It was a woman, her blonde hair stained red from the bullet wound in her head. While the sixth chair was covered in blood, it sat empty; a trail of blood led from the chair to the door.

The pool he'd seen outside the door was likely from whoever had been seated in that chair. He quickly filed away that information and turned back toward the table. In front of every one of the corpses were white folders. Leon grabbed a folder with the least amount of blood and gore on it and flipped it open. He briefly skimmed over the contents and found little of it to be noteworthy except for one passage.

In light of Dr. Redfern's continued absence, we are currently in the process of appointing a new head researcher. It is our sincere hope that we can continue his work despite his absence. While Dr. Redfern's disappearance is unfortunate, it solidifies the decision that we need to break away from our current benefactor. As you know, Dr. Redfern had had many disagreements with some of the benefactor's terms. Now that we are aware of these terms we also have taken Dr. Redferns stance; quality is our guarantee. We are happy to announce that we are in talks to take on a new benefactor, one that will encourage quality work and productivity.

Feeling puzzled and more than a little alarmed, Leon followed the blood trail out of Conference Room A. The trail led across the hall to Conference Room B. Whoever had been shot had been bleeding quite a bit and must've stopped just outside the other door because there was a larger pool there. Leon opened the door and stepped inside expecting a similar blood bath to Conference Room A to greet him. To his relief, he only found one body in Conference Room B. It was a balding man who obviously was another executive based on his fancy suit. Unlike the people in Conference Room A though, this man had not been shot in the head. He'd received a total of three gun show wounds as far as Leon could tell; one to his left shoulder, another to the right chest, and the last one in his gut. In death the man's face had frozen in a permanent frown, his hands clenched into tight fists as if he were ready to throw punches even in the afterlife.

After searching around the rest of the room and finding nothing of interest, Leon left the Conference Room and headed down toward the end of the hallway. There was a little break room at the end and Leon made the grisly discovery of three deceased security guards slouched in their chairs, bloody bullet wounds in their heads. Judging by their relaxed posture they had not seen their attacker coming, or they had known him. Leon felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise at that thought.

Felix is running around here somewhere. I would not want to run into him in the dark down here, Leon thought to himself and left the break room in a rush. He felt mildly panicky as he scuttled down the hall. He kept thinking he saw things in the shadows or hiding in the darkness ahead of him just before the lights would flicker on. Ada's here too…she'd help me if something happened, wouldn't she? The answer that formed in his head disturbed him. What have I gotten into myself into?

Finally Leon reached the crossroads again and decided he'd do a quick sweep of Labs 1-7. Though he was fairly certain that whatever he found there wouldn't be pleasant or something he'd easily forget.

Moving as swiftly as he could, Leon made his way down the hall and quickly came to the first lab. It had a nameplate on the side that simply labeled it as 'one'. Plastered all over the door in bright red was 'Biohazard Level 3: Caution Advised'. Leon felt his stomach flip flop at the thought of what exactly Panacea was testing on. There was a small square peek hole in the metal, airtight door that Leon could see into. Unlike the offices that Leon had run into that had been dark, this lab appeared to be well lit and allowed Leon to see into it. He could make out what looked like an anteroom that connected to what was likely a decontamination room. Beyond that lay the official lab. Both the door to the decontamination room and the lab itself were thick, bulky, airtight doors.

Leon tried the turn handle on the intimidating door and was surprised when he felt it give. He knew there was a risk of contagion but from what he could tell through the peek hole the antechamber was clean and the decontamination room intact. Leon pulled the door open and quickly slipped inside.

Once inside Leon took notice of the large pane of glass that separated the anteroom from the lab room allowing for observation from the safety of a clean room. There was a closet to the side with several biohazard suits hanging on it. Leon ignored them and moved toward the glass to see into the lab.

The first thing he noticed was the stark whiteness of the room before him; the lights were unpleasant to his eyes even though he wasn't actually in the lab and only viewing them. The second thing he noticed was the line of rat cages. He couldn't see any movement in any of the pens and thought he saw just a hint of something red staining the steel bars of one of the cages. The last thing Leon noticed was the crumpled body at the foot of the door to decontamination. After he'd taken note of the body Leon finally saw the blood, all the blood.

Leon had to blink as he took in the gruesome sight before him. Most of the lower part of the door to decontamination was stained red with blood splatters or bloody hand prints. The man was crumpled onto his stomach with his hands outstretched toward the door. Judging by the hand print patterns it looked as if the crumpled man had been clawing at the door, willing it to open. The man's hands were so stained with blood Leon could hardly make out individual fingers. Leon could see that the man was half in and half out of a biohazard suit, his upper body completely free of the suit. There was a dark, almost black pool of fluid around the man's head. Perhaps vomit? Blood covered the back of the man's shirt and dotted the bottom half of his hazard suit; it coiled upwards on the wall and splashed in rivulets on the floor.

On one side of the lab it was clean and sterile; white and untouched. But the other side of the room, the side with the body and the door, was a blood bath. It was like something out of a horror movie and made Leon feel vaguely nauseated. Slowly Leon stepped away from the glass and looked around the anteroom for something that would clue him in to what exactly they'd been experimenting with.

After a thorough search of the room that revealed nothing, Leon eagerly left . He didn't dare enter the decontamination room let alone the lab itself. After exiting Lab 1, Leon made his way down the hall until he came across Lab 2. The door looked mostly the same as Lab 1's had except when Leon peeked in the little square window it was dark inside. Leon shined his head light in through the glass window and into the antechamber. He couldn't see much inside but as he continued to shine the light around, his eyes caught a flicker of movement from within the room.

Leon directed the light in the direction of the movement. He caught sight of something long, tubular, and flesh colored that was moving away from his light. Leon darted the light farther up the tubular flesh colored thing and realized it was a tail—it was a rat, just a rat. Leon breathed a sigh of relief until he saw what the rat had in its mouth; the rat was gnawing on an outstretched human finger. Leon panned the light up along the finger to reveal a hand and then an arm and then a face—a horribly contorted pained face. The eyes were bugged out as if the person had been deprived of oxygen, the lips swollen and deformed, blood dried and caked around the nose. Leon couldn't even tell if it was male or female. He quickly pulled away from the door after that discovery and continued on toward Lab 3.

What happened here? Leon thought to himself as he investigated Lab 3. As Leon poked around the peek hole he thought he heard some kind of shuffling sound from within but dismissed it as nerves. This place was pretty creepy after all. Just as he was about to turn the handle to enter the antechamber, Leon heard the same shuffling sound and decided then that it was not nerves that were getting to him.

Pressing his face close to the glass of the window, Leon gazed around the anteroom as best he could. Then he saw it; there inside the lab was a rhesus monkey shuffling around the room. It wasn't the monkey though that made Leon's heart skip several beats, it was the bloated gray face of a human staring back at him from the other side of the window of the lab. Leon had initially thought it was just another body but the eyes had blinked and Leon swore he heard a faint moan from beyond the door. The person looked nearly dead and certainly wasn't going anywhere very quickly. Leon stared at the man in the lab and gulped as he slowly rose from his slouched position to a standing one. He shuffled toward the glass window of the lab and weakly started hitting it and moaning as if in pain. Leon couldn't tell if he was actually forming words or just moaning but the look in his eyes made the hair on his arms stand straight up. The expression was vacant; hollow as if he were looking at a shell. It was vaguely reminiscent of the undead he'd encountered over the years.

Leon scooted backwards from the door and moved away from Lab 3. He took a few panicked breaths before he was able to continue down the hall. Why he pressed on he wasn't sure. It was obvious something terrible had happened here, someone had infected the researchers and locked them in their labs and killed the CEOs execution style. He had more than enough evidence to report back with. Leon felt fairly certain that whatever he found in the following labs would be equally as unpleasant as the previous three he'd investigated.

The investigation of Lab 4 revealed little and relieved Leon's nerves just a bit since there had been no corpses or half dead people or blood. He left that room feeling a little bit better. Labs 5, 6, and 7 all contained dead, bloodied bodies much like Lab 1. These labs also had caged rhesus monkeys in them, the majority of which were also dead and bloody looking. Leon couldn't help but feel sorry for the little critters. Poor guys always seemed to get the short end of the stick.

After investigating Labs 1-7 Leon had made his way back to the beginning of the hall to search the hallway containing Labs 8-14. It was essentially the same as all the others, the only difference being that written on the wall in bold letters every few feet was, 'BIOHAZARD LEVEL 4: EXTREME CAUTION ADVISED'. That filled Leon with trepidation. Whatever they'd been experimenting on in these labs was more dangerous than what Leon had already seen. That did not bode well.

Leon approached Lab 8 and peeked into the window in the door. The antechamber was well lit and the decontamination room appeared intact and clean. Leon looked to the lab and was surprised to see that it was dark inside the lab as if only those lights had been shut off. Leon tentatively panned his light into the lab and saw nothing in his sweep. He felt a pull to enter this particular lab as if there was something he needed to see. Leon's hand closed over the door handle and he slipped inside quietly.

The anteroom was quiet just like every other room he'd been in; he could hear nothing except the beating of his own heart. Leon turned toward the lab window and shined his light inside. He panned the light to the left and halted as his light fell upon a young woman slouched in the corner. Leon stepped closer to the window to get a better look at her.

She was young, probably early twenties, most likely fresh out of college. Unlike all the other corpses Leon had come across, she was relatively clean. There was a stain of red down the front of her shirt as if she'd had a particularly bad bloody nose that had run down her front. She wasn't in a biohazard suit and in fact was clothed completely in street clothing. Leon wondered if she'd perhaps removed her biohazard suit when she'd realized she was dying. He took in the short brown hair, petite little frame and felt and overwhelming sense of pity. This girl was just beginning her life only to have it brutally snuffed out…

The twitch of her finger made Leon jump and step away from the glass. He panned his light up toward her face and with some horror realized she'd actually opened her eyes and was looking toward him. Unlike the other semi alive person he'd encountered, this girl had some semblance of a soul left in her eyes although they were horribly blood shot. He watched in alarm as the girl slowly rose from her crumpled sitting position and stood up. Once she was standing she took several deep breaths as if she had just run a marathon and desperately needed to catch her breath. With very shaky legs, the girl stumbled toward the glass window; toward him.

Startled, Leon backed away from the window. The girl continued to stumble forward toward the window. As Leon moved backwards he bumped into the wall behind him and ran into a light switch that apparently controlled the lights in the lab. The lab was suddenly bathed in light and Leon heard the girl scream as they came on. Leon blinked at the now well lit room and at the girl who'd stumbled against the glass window and leaned against it for support. He was also able to take in the rest of the labs surroundings.

There was a discarded biohazard suit in the opposite corner of where the girl had been sitting. Leon noted that there was quite a bit of blood on the suit. There were also several bloody handprints on the decontamination door. A few rhesus monkeys lay dead in their cages. Leon's gaze was drawn back to the girl pressed against the glass. This close Leon could make out more details on her face; he could see bruising around her eyes and cuts and scratches as if she'd been itching her face with too much force. Leon also realized that she looked incredibly sweaty like she was running a high fever.

"C-c-come…to fin-finish the the…job?" She stuttered her voice dry and weak. Leon raised an eyebrow and realized that this was probably the only opportunity he was going to get to find out what had happened here. He might even be able to save this girl.

With renewed energy, Leon boldly stepped forward to the glass window and eyed the girl carefully. Just as he was about to speak though, the girl abruptly bent over and retched. At first she just dry heaved but then she did actually vomit, except it wasn't food that came up or even stomach juices, it was reddish black fluid. Leon watched in disgust as the inky fluid spilled onto the floor and the girl's feet. She took in a few ragged breaths and then straightened out slightly.

"This i-isn't en-enough?" She snarled and gestured around the lab.

Forever the knight in shining armor, Leon said, "It's okay, I'm here to help you. Just tell me what happened here and I can get you some help."

Much to his surprise, the girl laughed, a bitter and angry sound. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "R-r-really? Why tease w-w-wh-when you know you c-can't?" She appeared to be having great difficulty speaking as if her throat had swollen shut.

"I'm here to help you. I want to help you," Leon said softly and did his best to look non-threatening. He realized he was still holding his gun and quickly holstered it. She watched him do this but her angry expression didn't change.

"Fucking Red-f-fern, dam—dammed theories…f-fuck, m-my head," the girl mumbled and lowered her head into her hands. She whimpered then, sad and pathetic. It was a sound that made Leon's heart sick. He could hear her sniffling and expected to see the soft fall of tears but was disturbed to see little rivulets of red flow down from her eyes. Leon stared, horrified. What happened here? What have they done to these people?

"Just tell me what happened," Leon urged and hoped the soothing tone of his voice would calm the crying girl.

However, it seemed to have the opposite effect. The girl abruptly dropped her hands from her face and looked up to meet him. The intelligence in her eyes was gone and had been replaced by a madness that Leon had seen only once before in his life when he'd been a child and had looked into the eyes of a rabid dog. The girl growled and started banging on the glass. She screamed incoherently at him and Leon backed up for fear of the glass breaking (though he knew that was unlikely).

Just as quickly as her mood change had started however, she changed back to crying and whimpering and lowered her head back to her hands. Leon could hear her mumbling softly to herself.

"N-not yet…gotta stay here a l-little longer."

Slowly the girl raised her head and met Leon's gaze again. The wild look had vanished and the intelligence in her eyes had returned.

"D-don't know…don't don't know how, but it was sabo—sabuh—saboo," she stopped as she struggled with the word, "it was from w-within. No one gets to leave alive."

Leon felt his stomach flip flop with dread. Was this girl talking sense or was she just rambling whatever came into her head?

The girl slowly raised her right hand up to the glass and pressed it against it. Leon saw dried blood caked into the creases in her hands. He didn't know why but he felt inclined to offer up his hand to hers against the glass. The girl glanced at their hands separated only by the glass and squeezed out a few more bloody tears as she looked at him.

"N-need to leave. Run. G-g-go. Leave or you'll d- die too," the girl said softly. Leon shook his head in response.

"Let me help—"

"GO! RUN!" The girl abruptly screamed and hit the glass again. Leon jumped and backed away from the window and moved toward the door. He spared on glance back to the girl only to watch her leaning against the glass window again and sliding down it.

Leon turned the handle to the door and slid back out into the hallway. Once the door was closed behind him he felt an overwhelming urge to leave this particular hall—hell to leave the entire sub-basement.

Fuck Felix, Leon thought to himself as he half ran down the hall and toward the double doors leading to the security station. Once Leon reached the double doors he practically kicked the doors open and stumbled into the security desk. He felt claustrophobic suddenly in this dark, creepy basement with unspeakable terrors. His head was spinning and Leon took a few deep breaths to calm his mind. After a few minutes of deep breathing Leon looked down the hallway toward the stairwell and the elevators. He wanted to get out of here.

Just as he took a step forward to head toward the stairwell he stopped as he remembered the locked door behind the desk. Leon slowly turned his head and eyed the door carefully. He decided he'd give it another try. Leon strode over to the door and took hold of the door handle, all the while telling himself that it didn't matter. The door would be locked anyway and then he could be well on his way to fresh air and sunlight.

However, the door clicked and swung open. Leon watched open mouthed as the room revealed its contents to him. The source of the blood became apparent rather quickly once Leon spotted four dead security officers slumped on the floor of the room. Someone had killed these men and then quietly stashed them in their security room and locked the door.

Leon automatically took his pistol back out and stepped into the little room. The room had been locked earlier; he was certain of it. Someone or something had unlocked the door in the time he'd been away, which meant he wasn't alone.

Just like everywhere else in the basement, the room was dead quiet. There were however, working computers and TV monitors. Leon realized that this was a security footage station. This was a lucky find. He quietly closed the door behind him; he didn't want unspeakable things sneaking up on him while he was in this little security room of death.

Leon eyed the monitors carefully; there were eight in all, and all seemed to cover different locations. Leon saw the parking lot on one monitor, the sub-basement hallways on another, the conference rooms, etc. One of the monitors was turned off though. Leon frowned at the perplexing situation. Was it simply malfunctioning or had someone tampered with it? Leon touched a power button on the monitor and held his breath. The monitor flickered to life. Leon smiled at first but felt it fall right off his face as he took in the image on the monitor.

It was the one area he hadn't been; the one area Ada had told him was the Panic Room; the one area the majority of the employees had fled to when their alarm went off. It was the Panic Room, of that Leon was certain.

Squinting his eyes, Leon tried to make sense of the image he was seeing. But his brain didn't want to analyze it; it had seen too many terrible things today. Where the fuck is Felix?

On the TV monitor the Panic Room was clearly visible as well as what was left of the former employees of Panacea. Leon could make out some people, or at least parts of people but mostly he could just see blood and tissue; lots of blood and tissue. The little silver room was filled with it; it was like a swimming pool of blood and gore and the occasional intact body part. Leon couldn't wrap his head around it; it was like something had been released into the air that made the flesh dissolve clean off the bone. That thought alone was enough to make Leon gag.

Stifling his gag, Leon clicked on a few of the buttons on the monitor hoping to run the clock back a few hours to see what he could find. He ran the clock back to when Panacea had gone dark but much to his surprise and concern, several hours of footage, namely the times that would've revealed when Panacea's alarm went off and when Panacea had officially gone dark, was gone. Leon tried every one of the monitors, from the monitor that covered the parking lot to the video displaying the lab hallways to see if he could access that particular time frame and couldn't. It was missing as if someone had specifically removed that footage from the security surveillance.

Leon stood and scratched his head. There was something seriously wrong with this scenario. Panacea had been targeted for some unknown reason, and had lost everyone because of it. But whoever had taken out the trash was masking their trail efficiently. Something big was going on; something with dark implications.

A noise from outside the security room startled Leon and had him whirling around and facing the door, gun cocked and ready. Leon moved toward the door and lined it up in his sights. He moved forward swiftly then and kicked opened the door and charged through it scanning the area. His eyes nearly missed the tall man standing some feet away from him, his hands relaxed at his sides. It startled Leon so much that his finger almost closed around the trigger, but he caught himself just in time.

Felix stood before him.

"Shit, Felix!" Leon hissed and lowered his weapon slightly.

"You're a bit jumpy," Felix observed, his face emotionless.

Leon raised an eyebrow at Felix's statement. Really? What had Felix been doing this whole time? Twiddling his thumbs? Did he miss out on all the blood and gore or the basement of terrors? "Where the hell have you been?" Leon demanded, an edge entering his voice.

Without any hesitation what so ever Felix replied, "I've been looking for you. I stepped out of the room upstairs to investigate a noise. When I went back into the room I'd left you in, you were gone. I have been searching for you ever since." Despite the fact that there was no emotional giveaway in Felix's face or in his voice, Leon felt certain that he'd just been lied to.

"Right," Leon mumbled and holstered his gun. Some part of him felt very uncomfortable having his gun holstered around Felix—he didn't trust him.

"I think we should get moving though, Agent Kennedy. In my experience these science facilities tend to be very unstable when there is power failure. The chemicals these research facilities deal with are often highly flammable," Felix stated, his voice just hinting at an underlying emotion that Leon couldn't pinpoint.

"A little sketchy power doesn't mean the place is going to explode. Besides, don't you want to look around?" Leon retorted and made toward the security office. Felix was at his arm in a flash, his hand sealed around Leon's in a vice grip. Leon had hardly blinked and the man had managed to cross the two or three feet between them. The speed unnerved him.

"I trust your reporting and there are protocols for facilities that research biohazards of a level 4 standing. I've already called for back up to help survey the area. We are not properly equipped to deal with potential survivors or possible infected individuals," Felix said with alarming clarity.

Leon blinked. "Do you know what they were testing on?"

"No, but a level 4 biohazard is used only with extremely dangerous pathogens. That should be cause enough for us to leave and wait for proper backup." Leon eyed Felix suspiciously. He knew that what Felix was saying was true but he somehow imagined that he had ulterior motives for wanting to vacate the premises.

"Okay, you're right…we'll go," Leon agreed and was relieved when Felix let go of him. "Although it may take us some time to get out of here…this place is kind of a maze."

"I think I remember the way," Felix said. Something about the tone he'd used made Leon doubt that Felix had any uncertainty in the way out. Sure enough Felix plunged forward toward the stairwell door, barely waiting for Leon.

Leon practically had to jog to catch up with Felix who was already in the darkened stairwell. Leon gingerly began up the stairs and was somewhat alarmed when he realized that Felix was taking the steps two at a time. In a matter of seconds Felix had cleared the stairwell and was at the door to the first level. Leon picked up the pace to catch up.

Felix was half way down the hall as Leon pushed through the basement door and had to run to catch up to him. The funny thing was, Felix wasn't running he was simply walking very quickly. Leon tried to follow as closely as he could but kept falling behind and frequently got distracted by the many twists and turns of the halls. He was fairly certain that he hadn't come this way with Ada. Leon was more than a little disturbed when he realized that Felix hardly glanced at any of the other hallways and simply marched on as if he'd been up and down these hallways a thousand times. There was confidence in his movements, confidence that only a person who knew these halls would have.

Both Felix and Leon made it to the first bank of elevators that would take them to the ground floor. Leon was practically out of breath from having to essentially jog to keep up with Felix. Felix on the other hand, looked as cool as a cucumber. Leon shivered at how utterly relaxed this man was in this building of nightmares.

The elevator finally arrived and both Felix and Leon stepped inside. The ride up the elevator shaft was quiet and quick. Once the doors opened Felix gracefully bounded out of the elevator and down the hall. Leon followed although he was unfamiliar with the territory. Although some of it he knew from his exploration of the layout earlier, it would've taken him a bit of time to make his way to the exit. It took Felix less than 60 seconds.

Leon exited shortly after Felix did and thought about stopping to take a nice deep breath of clean air, but stopped when he realized Felix was still rapidly walking away. Curiosity biting at him, Leon followed Felix toward where he'd parked the car earlier. They were about half way there when Leon heard the sirens in the distance. Well, at least Felix hadn't been lying about that.

"The cleanup crew is in for a nasty surprise," Leon said mostly to himself.

Felix had finally stopped walking and stood by the parked car and briefly looked back toward the distant sound of sirens. Leon watched as Felix gave a quick glance at the sun as if he were gauging the time.

"You gotta be—" Leon was cut off mid-sentence when a loud explosion from behind them ripped through the afternoon sky. The shock of it knocked Leon over and onto the ground. He blinked at the giant fiery cloud that obscured the sky and the roaring fire that had taken the place of what had once been Panacea. The entire building had exploded!

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Leon cried out incredulously and looked back toward Felix.

Unlike Leon who had been so shocked by the explosion he'd been knocked to the ground , Felix remained standing, apparently unaffected. He popped a mint into his mouth and glanced briefly at Leon. Leon had to blink a few times as he saw the briefest flash of a smirk on Felix's face.

"I told you, these places are highly flammable."


	11. After the Flames

**A/N:**

**Avogadro602**: We're glad you guys liked that last chapter! Pretty big stuff going on, eh? From here the plot will continue to thicken and hopefully lead to a rather enjoyable rollercoaster. A big thanks goes out to everyone who's read and reviewed! And Sanseru, you ROCK for sticking with us all this way!

**NeuroticBanana: **When we saw the reviews for the last chapter we were SUPER stoked. It made us tickled pink with excitement! So a super duper thank you! Things should continue at a faster pace now that you've made it through Panacea's fall…intense right? Yeah, it was. And Sanseru, THANK YOU so much for being with us from chapter one, you are amazing! And as always, read and enjoy and please review!

Long live that poor girl from Panacea's basement of terrors!

Disclaimer: Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but we don't own Resident Evil, so don't sue us maybe?

Cover artwork is by LoneWolf117 from Deviantart.

**Chapter 11: **

**After the Flames**

Leon's knuckles were white on the wheel. A growing plume of smoke was still visible in his rear view mirror. His steel-faced partner sat in the seat next to him. He appeared as calm as ever, despite the fact that they'd just been nearly blown up while coming out of Panacea's house of horrors. _Not that Felix seemed very surprised, _he thought with unease and spared a glance toward his partner. _He ran through Panacea as if he knew the place like the back of his hand… _

"You're not going to tell me where you were back there, are you?" Leon asked aloud suddenly, surprising himself.

"I already told you," Felix answered simply, "I was looking for you."

Leon turned his eyes back to the road. _I didn't think so. _He was lying through his teeth and he hadn't even flinched.

"You seem tense, Leon." The sound of his first name coming from Felix in such a familiar tone was strange. It left him feeling too exposed and wishing that Felix could somehow know less about him. _Why do I feel like he knows all my secrets? _The irrational part of his mind replied: _Because he probably does. _The notion gave him the chills and he shoved it from his thoughts. Felix looked to him with those penetrating eyes. "Did you see something back there that bothered you?"

Leon thought back to the horrors he'd seen today and almost wanted to laugh. Did he not see the blood stains, the test animals roaming the labs, the executed CEOs, the pool of dissolved bodies on the surveillance footage? Leon silently scoffed. Of course he had; there was no way Felix had gone into the basement of Panacea and left without encountering at least one of those terrible visions. That left two options: either Felix's stone cold heart left him immune to normal human emotions (an idea which Leon didn't entirely discredit), or he already knew what they would find down there. _Or both… _A prickle started up at the back of his neck that Leon had come to associate with intense and immediate danger. Back in Spain, it'd been the only way he could tell when those invisible insects, the novistadors, were going to attack him.

Leon stared straight ahead as he answered. "It's just nerves."

Felix turned back to the road. "Good." His voice was impassive. "That's what I thought."

Leon remembered Ada's words and suppressed a shiver: _If he'd wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already. _

They drove back to the Agency in silence.

* * *

><p>Once the car was parked, his first stop was Harrleson's office. This whole situation was ludicrous—pharmaceutical companies playing with dangerous science, innocent towns being blown up, his strange partner and his familiarity of Panacea's layout… It reeked of a cover up, but he was missing pieces of the puzzle. He'd be lying if he said it didn't intrigue him, but games like these were dangerous. He could live without answers or find them on his own if it meant getting out of this mess before it blew up in his face.<p>

He left Felix at his desk and stepped into the office alone.

"I want a partner reassignment," Leon announced once the door had shut.

Harrleson looked up, but didn't appear surprised. "Had some trouble with the psychopath, eh?"

Leon shook his head. "This isn't a joke. I think Felix would be a danger in the field. I can't rely on him."

Harrleson sighed tiredly and shook his head. "Sorry, Leon. I can't do anything about it. You'll have to talk to Hunnigan."

The apologetic smile that followed from his boss startled him. Since when had Harrleson gotten so polite? Only then did he notice the large bags under his eyes, the weariness in his face. He paused momentarily to wonder if Harrlesoon was being serious and then nodded—the lack of swearing was a clear giveaway. Without pressing the issue further, he left the office.

Leon quickly made his way upstairs, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up the entire way until the elevator doors finally closed. Felix was watching him.

When he knocked on Hunnigan's door he was surprised at her invitation to come in. He'd half expected to find her busy and have to make an appointment. Ingrid was normally one of the busiest people in the agency. It was people like her that kept the paperwork flowing. He opened the door and found her heavily engrossed in a form she was filling out. There was a stack of similar forms—blank ones—next to her. They were stacked about six inches high.

"I hope this isn't a bad time," he apologized as he entered and closed the door behind him.

Ingrid briefly glanced up at him over her glasses. "I was just finishing up some paperwork. What did you need, Leon?"

He cleared his throat and quietly thought over how to phrase his problem. Asking Harrleson for help was one thing, but with Hunnigan he'd have to be substantially more polite. "I was wondering if I could talk with you about my new partner, Felix."

She stopped writing, put her pencil down and finally looked up at him. "Are you having a problem?"

He'd been frank with her while out on missions, but when she was behind the desk it was different. Here, where bureaucracy ruled, she was in charge. "If it's possible, I would like to have a reassignment."

She crossed her arms and frowned, throwing him a concerned look. "You two aren't getting along?"

_I think he'd snap my neck if I looked at him wrong, _he thought but instead said, "That is part of it, yes."

Hunnigan glanced back to her unfinished paperwork and the large stack of papers next to it, impatience briefly crossing her features. "This sounds like the type of thing that can normally be fixed with better communication skills. Have you tried talking to him? Getting to know him a little better, maybe?"

_I've already tried that, _he thought bitterly_._ Everything in him screamed that Felix was very bad news. He resisted the urge to frown as the weariness of the day's horrors began to sink in. It was just past noon, and he'd already seen enough to scar most normal men for life. As a seasoned agent he was desensitized to much of it, but it still wore on him. "I don't think I can rely on him in the field." _He also might've blown up the building we were investigating. _

Hunnigan frowned. "I'm surprised you're having problems with him. Felix came highly recommended from his department."

Leon ground his teeth. _Of course he did._ "Right."

She looked back down at her papers and scribbled a few things on them. "And either way," she continued absently, "I can't remove Felix from this assignment. He was transferred over specifically for it."

He finally gave in and frowned at her. "Then remove me from the assignment."

Hunnigan put down her pen again and looked at him reproachfully. "Leon, you were hand-picked for this assignment. Your superiors believe you to be the most capable agent we've got and they trusted you to get the job done. Did they make the wrong choice?"

The guilt built up in him as she talked. He knew she was appealing to his sense of duty on purpose, but that didn't mean it didn't work. He let out a frustrated sigh. "I understand that, it's just…this last assignment was…strange. If I'm doing something this dangerous I want to be around someone I can trust. I'd really prefer not to work with him."

Ingrid nodded, her face turning to a mask of sympathy. "I'll make a note of it. In the meantime, try to hang in there. I'm sure he'll come around. If he makes any serious mistakes, let me know." She stamped the paper she'd been working on and put it in her outbox. "Speaking of your latest assignment, don't you have a report to be filing? I expect to have a debriefing with you both by the end of the week." She grabbed another blank paper and started filling it out. He got the feeling that the conversation was ending.

"I suppose I do," he mutedly agreed and headed for the door. "Thanks, Ingrid," he halfheartedly called as he stepped out.

"Sure thing, Agent Kennedy," She replied in her standard professional voice.

The door closed behind him and with it came a horrible sinking feeling in his chest. There was no getting out. He and Felix were stuck with each other nowunless he could come up with a more legitimate complaint than "He gives me a bad feeling".

Leon returned to his desk and spent the rest of the day trying to write his report on the Panacea incident. The entire time he felt Felix's gaze on him, but when he'd turn to lookthe man's cold eyes were staring somewhere else. Eventually he began to feel paranoid and took every opportunity possible to leave the area.

Between this and several other errands he had to run it took nearly two days to finish his report. Leon met with Felix Thursday morning for their debriefing with Hunnigan. In the elevator Felix requested to see his report. Leon glanced at him suspiciously but handed his report over without hesitation. He had nothing to hide.

Felix scanned through the pages in silence. "Hmm," he hummed after a moment, "I see you decided to leave her out."

Leon blanched, then quickly ripped the papers away from his partner. There was only one _her _that Felix could be talking about. A wave of fear and anger rose up in him. "She's none of your business," he growled.

Felix stared forward, disinterested. "I'm not the slightest bit interested in your personal affairs. What I _do _find intriguing is your intentional omission of mission critical information."

"She wasn't critical to the mission," he snapped, his hands balling into fists and crinkling the papers they held. _When did he see her, anyway? _

"A government agent allowing an internationally known spy to go free? I believe that qualifies as mission critical information, Agent Kennedy." The elevator stopped and the doors opened, but neither of them moved.

Leon stared him down, seething. He'd only run into Ada on missions a handful of times. For every one he'd taken painstaking care to edit her out of his report, giving her only the briefest mention when necessary. It was something that he hadn't told anyoneabout—_anyone_. The agency didn't need to know, and neither did anyone else. It was safer for both of them to leave her out.

But if Felix decided to let Ada's presence slip, his entire history as an agent could be called into question…

…and it would put _her _in danger. He knew, down to his very bones, that he would die before letting that happen. It wasn't a matter of choice. Leon's eyes remained fixed on his stone faced partner, who still looked ahead. _He's blackmailing me, _Leon realized.

Finally, Felix turned to him and gave him the smallest of smiles. "Shall we?"

Leon followed him uneasily into Hunnigan's office.

"Hello boys," Ingrid greeted as they stepped inside and sat down into two chairs facing her desk. She clasped her hands together and sent them a quick but polite smile, completely oblivious to the tension between the two. "So tell me, how did the visit to Panacea go? Did you find out why their communications went down?"

Leon's pulse was throbbing in his ears, but he forced himself to remain composed as he spoke. "The facility was abandoned when we arrived there. There were flashing lights underneath several desks we looked at, which we believe to be from some type of alarm system. We did a thorough search of the first floor with no results and then took an elevator down to the basement."

Felix spoke up next to him, his voice cold and unemotional as usual. Leon's heart rate picked up. "Initial exploration of the basement proved fruitless. While searching a room filled with electronics, we got separated."

"You got separated?" Hunnigan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. We got separated," Felix repeated, "I searched for Leon in the rest of the basement while continuing to look for any signs of evidence. After a time I assumed Agent Kennedy must have gone into the sub-basement and I followed him down. Shortly after arriving onto the lowest level I found him, but not before coming across a storage room with some very unstable looking gas canisters. I met up with Agent Kennedy and suggested that we leave the compound immediately."

Ingrid turned her gaze on Leon. "What were you doing in the sub-basement?"

"Looking for Felix," he replied shortly and gave a quick glance at his partner. _He hasn't revealed anything yet… _"And while I was down there, I think I discovered what brought the compound down."

Felix was staring at him intently.

Ingrid motioned with her hand. "Go on."

"There appeared to have been some sort of outbreak in the labs. It seemed to be contained to the highest levels of biohazard clearance."

"Interesting," Hunnigan commented and leaned on her palm, "And what happened to the rest of the staff?"

Leon swallowed, remembering the image of the panic room. _What was it exactly that Felix didn't want me to say? _"It seems that when the outbreak happened, they fled to a panic room. I'm not sure how, but something killed them while they were in there."

Ingrid leaded forward. "What do you mean, 'something'?" she asked. "You make it sound as if they were killed intentionally by some type of animal."

_More like someone, _Leon thought quietly to himself. "I don't know exactly," he admitted, "It was difficult to tell because I only caught a glimpse through a security camera. The video quality wasn't very good…"

Hunnigan nodded. "I see. Well if you didn't find anything else, I think that will be all. Leon, Felix, if I could have your reports please…" Leon considered mentioning the executed CEOs, but thought better of it. If that had been what Felix hadn't wanted him to mention, then he was already too late. It was already in his report. They handed the papers to her. Leon muttered an apology when she received his crinkled report.

A strange sense of understanding settled upon the two as they rode the elevator back down: _Don't dig into my dirty little secrets, and I won't dig into your's. _Still, Leon couldn't shake the feeling that he'd just made a deal with the devil.

* * *

><p>Leon ran a hand through his hair and slumped back into his desk chair. It'd been a long day—a long week—but Friday was finally here. He'd hoped that this mess with Panacea would fade into his memories as just another battle scar. Instead, ever since turning in his report (and being forced to accept Felix's strange behavior) the entire event had nagged him, festering in his mind like an infected wound.<p>

He'd had nightmares again last night, but this time he'd dreamed of the girl he'd encountered in Panacea's basement. He'd found her cowering in the corner of a dilapidated little house that reminded him of Grandma Marianne's.

"Save yourself," she choked out when he knelt down to help, her face clammy and pale. He'd picked her up anyway and carried her outside through a forest where a dark figure made of flames pursued them. When the man of fire caught up to them, the woman had coughed and whispered in a bitter, hoarse voice, "You come to finish the job?" When Leon looked down there were flames lapping at her face, but the angry accusing glare was not directed at the figure of fire before them—it was directed at _him_. After waking, he'd stumbled into the bathroom and taken a shower so hot that the water scorched his skin.

He still didn't feel clean.

"Hey, Leon," Piers's voice jostled him from his thoughts. He looked up just in time to see Piers leaning against the wall of his cubicle. "You doing alright?"

Leon straightened and cleared his throat. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just…tired."

Piers nodded and crossed his arms, the slightest hint of concern crossing his face. "Still not sleeping well, eh?" When Leon only shrugged, he continued unhindered. "Well if you're interested, Chris and I are heading out to the bar after work. Claire said she might even stop by."

Leon considered it for a moment. He _did _have a lot on his mind…maybe a trip out to the bar would help clear it? And it had been an eternity since he'd last seen Claire…why was he hesitating? Leon plastered a smile on his face and nodded. "Sure, sounds great."

Piers grinned and pushed off of the cubicle wall. "Alright, Kennedy! We head out in five, and I'm driving." The younger man turned and skipped over to the cubicle opposite, where Helena was just finishing her work for the day. He leaned down so that his face was near her's and whispered something low that Leon couldn't hear. When Leon caught a glimpse of her face, her cheeks were red.

He rolled his eyes and turned back to his own desk, beginning to get things in order so that he could leave. _That's sure to come up in the conversation tonight, _he thought to himself with a snort. But even so, his mind strayed back to his current situation. _Something very wrong is going on here, I know it… _Panacea, Qwills, Isaac Redfern… they were all connected, but he was missing the whole picture. The people of Qwills had gotten sick with a mysterious and probably very dangerous illness. Panacea was working with dangerous pathogens, possibly illegally. The connection? Isaac… it had to be…

_Isaac drove through Qwills every day to get to work, _he remembered. That must have been it! Panacea was working with dangerous substances. Isaac worked at Panacea. Isaac travelled through Qwills frequently. _And now Qwills is gone…. _But Isaac's body was never found and with Qwills gone, there was no way of knowing if he'd actually stopped there or not. If he _had _stopped there, it would appear that he brought something with him from work.

A chill ran through his heart as a thought struck him. _Was it intentional? Did Isaac intentionally spread some unknown pathogen into an unsuspecting community? _Perhaps he'd gotten frustrated with pressure from his benefactor, and had let loose the disease as a way of proving his point. Or, perhaps it was really an accident… And just what _was _this disease, anyway?

He could clearly see why Panacea would want to hide this information, but from the background information he'd gathered on the company, they had nowhere near the resources necessary to cover an accidental release like this up. And Panacea had gone up in flames as well… Was that by their own mistake, or—

"Leon," Piers called, once again interrupting his thoughts. He stood outside Leon's cubicle, keys in hand. "I'm heading out, are you coming?"

Leon nodded and stood, trying to get his mind back into the present. "I'll just be a second." It didn't make sense; there were too many unknowns… The biggest of all being Ada's involvement in this.

Ada. She was always two steps ahead of him… He reached for his jacket and paused.

_Always two steps ahead…_

Ada. She would know. And she was here, somewhere. He just had to find out where…

He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. "Sorry Piers," he called as he left, "Something just came up."


	12. Graveyard of Ashes

**A/N: **

**NeuroticBanana: **Just so you know, we are stoked with all the recent reviews. It really makes our day! So thank you so much for the reviews! Anyways, here's another chapter to sate your appetite and hopefully it's to everyone's liking. So read and enjoy and also, please drop us a review to make us tickled pink with delight!

**Avogadro602:** So pleased about all the reviews we've gotten! Very glad you're enjoying it!

Disclaimer: If we liked it then we shoulda put a copyright on it. Which we didn't, because Capcom already had.

Cover Art was done by LoneWolf117 from deviantart.

**Chapter 12:**

**Graveyard of Ashes **

Qwills, the place where it all began; ground zero. For one reason or another he was headed back to that hick little town. Maybe it was because it was the only place he hadn't searched, or maybe it was because somewhere deep down inside he knew there would be some form of answers there. Whatever the reason, he was swiftly heading in that general direction. Although, he wasn't really sure what would be left after such a disaster…

Leon frowned as that thought crossed his mind. Qwills: innocent lives lost to what was almost certainly a cover up of some kind. But what were they trying to cover up? And _who _exactly were '_they_'? He didn't know but was beginning to grow suspicious that his own company may be connected. From day one the whole situation had made him uneasy and as each day had passed his sense of unease had only grown.

To complicate matters, Ada was somehow heavily tied into the entire situation. She kept popping up and she was _always _one step ahead of him. How was she involved in this exactly; what was her part to play? He didn't know and couldn't begin to guess unless he managed to corner the spider in her own web, which presented a huge challenge. How did one catch a master web weaver?

In almost every situation he'd been in so far, she had emerged from the shadows to leer at him like the cat that ate the canary; every situation except Qwills. That was enough for him to head back to the little town and dig up whatever information he could find…though he had a sinking suspicion that he would find little to work with.

Sighing Leon pulled over at a gas station a few miles from the turn off that would lead him to Qwills. He needed to fill up on gas and get a cup of coffee; he was running on fumes at this point since he'd worked all day and then jumped straight into his road trip to Qwills.

Leon stepped out of his car and shivered at the cold fall air. The season was turning cold faster than he liked. He wouldn't be surprised if there would be snow flurries later that night. With that thought, Leon decided that he wouldn't dawdle too long at the service station and would try to be quick when he arrived in Qwills. He didn't want to get caught driving home on dark and icy roads.

Pulling his light jacket tighter around himself, Leon began going through the mundane task of refueling. He tried to occupy himself with the scenery while the gas tank filled but found that there was little to attract his attention. The road between the gas station and Qwills was severely lacking in shrubbery or land marks. It was a narrow, long, dusty road that would've been a perfect home to tumble weeds, had it been dryer.

Finally the pump clicked off and Leon gladly put the nozzle away and headed into the little convenient store.

The store was thankfully much warmer than the outside and made Leon relax just slightly. He briefly glanced at the clerk at the counter who appeared riveted by some sports game that was on an overhead TV. Leon snorted quietly at the display; he absently wondered if the kid would even notice if someone was robbing the place.

A short time later he returned to the clerk at the counter with a cup of hot coffee and money for gas. He waited patiently as the clerk barely registered his presence.

Leon cleared his throat.

The clerk finally turned his gaze from the TV to Leon to reveal buggy brown eyes and a bad case of acne. While the acne was eye catching, it was the larger than normal Adams apple that drew Leon's attention. He couldn't seem to take his eyes off the thing and was very curious to see if the clerk could actually swallow with such a big lump in his throat.

"Sorry sir, didn't see ya, was caught up in the game and all," the clerk admitted with a slight southern drawl. Leon managed to tear his gaze away from the unusually sized Adam's apple and make eye contact with the kid.

"That's okay. I'm just paying for the gas on pump two and the coffee," Leon explained and waited for the clerk to ring him up.

"Cool. I'll just ring ya up then…you watch them games at all? I just love 'em. Wanted to be one a them star athletes and all when I was younger." Leon nodded at the clerk and distantly wondered if he was losing IQ points while listening to him.

"Wadn't quite tall 'nough for basketball and too scrawny for football. Didn't ever play no baseball," the clerk continued as he pressed what appeared to be random buttons at the cash register. Leon had to fight the urge to sigh in frustration.

The clerk abruptly looked away from the register and back at Leon, really eyeing him up. Leon felt very uncomfortable under that buggy eyed gaze. Suddenly the clerk smiled broadly at him revealing a few missing, yellowed teeth. Leon refrained from cringing.

"Say, you look like a brawny sort….bet you did all kinds a sports didn't ya?" He asked, still smiling.

"I, uh, did a little football, but was more into track and academics," Leon replied with a shrug.

"Yeah I ain't never been into that long distance runnin' stuff," the clerk paused and then shook his head as if he'd realized he'd forgotten something critical to explain to Leon. "Well Shucks, I didn't introduce myself. Names' Merl. Merl Dool." The clerk, now introduced as Merl, held out his slightly moist looking hand to Leon.

"Leon," Leon said hesitantly and cautiously took Merl's hand only to feel repulsed at the slightly sticky feeling it left behind. He'd have to visit the bathroom before he left.

"Pleasure," Merl said with a yellow grin. He turned back to the cash register then and started pressing more buttons. Leon wondered if Merl actually knew how to use a cash register.

"I think I owe you—" Leon began only to be cut off by Merl.

"I got it," Merl paused and stuck his tongue out in concentration before finally turning back to Leon and saying, "Looks like that'll be $38.71."

Leon gladly forked over the cash and was about to head out without a goodbye when suddenly an idea struck him. Merl may be a toothless southern hick, but chances were he chatted up most of his customers. If Redfern had happened by this gas station a time or two, then Merl might know something.

"You get a lot of regulars in here Merl?" Leon asked and leaned against the counter.

"Well we get the occasional straggler like you Mr. Leon, but yeah, mostly we get regular folk from the surroundin' towns. Used to get a lotta folks from Qwills in here but that ain't the case no more since it's kinda blown up and all," Merl explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that…if I were to tell you the name of someone, do you think you might know it?" Leon inquired.

"Well sure! If they was a regular you betchya I'd remember. I remember all my regulars."

_Time to put that theory to the test, _Leon thought to himself.

"Did you ever know an Isaac Redfern?"

Merl laughed and slapped the counter. "Why I don't know if his last name was Redfern, but I sure do remember a customer by the name of Isaac; some kinda fancy doctor in fact! He came in here a lot, twice a day sometimes…early in the mornin' and in the evenin like around this time. Liked his Jack Daniels quite a bit."

Leon nodded. Merl, while possibly incredibly stupid, seemed to possess a potentially reliable memory.

"So he came in here a lot?" Leon asked.

"Oh yeah…always bought himself a bottle of Jack too. Poor son a bitch always seemed real stressed…I probably shoulda called the cops or somethin' since I think he was probably drinkin' the Jack on the road…" Merl lamented and tapped his chin in thought.

Leon barely managed to refrain from raising his eyebrows. He'd known that Redfern was an alcoholic; he just hadn't realized that he was a _raging _alcoholic.

"Yeah that might've been a good thing to do…so anyway, did he ever talk about what he was doing or where he was going?"

Merl seemed to think this question over for a while and continued tapping his chin in thought. Finally he answered with, "Nah, he never spoke too much 'bout what kind of work he was into. I know he worked for some fancy drug company or some sort and that's why he was always drivin' through Qwills. He didn't' seem to like that place too much, complained about it quite a bit…maybe that was why he always needed a bottle of Jack Daniels."

So far that was information that Leon knew, although the Jack Daniels information was slightly new but not really helpful.

"When was the last time you saw him?"

"Well that'd be…" Merl paused and looked at Leon suspiciously. "He in some kind of trouble? He hit somebody with his fancy car? Dammit, I knew I shoulda called 'bout that Jack he was always drivin' with."

Leon tried to backpedal. "No, no, nothing like that. I just have a, uh, friend who is, er, concerned about him….and we haven't heard from him in a while."

Seemingly pacified, Merl nodded and said, "Awh I see…yeah he was the type to keep his mamma up all night I reckon…well if I remember right, I saw him about, maybe two, three weeks ago? I think that was it…he didn't look too good that last time."

The timeline fit with Redfern's disappearance. Maybe Merl was the last to actually physically see Redfern before he disappeared.

"What didn't look good about him?"

Merl lowered his eyes as if this topic made him uncomfortable. "Well he seemed real grumpy and kinda sickly. Had a runny nose and big red eyes...though I 'spose that coulda been from the drink; the man did seem to really like his jack after all. In fact he bought three bottles in one sittin' that day. I almost recommended my own AA group to him, cuz them people help you see that you actually got a problem. That's how I stopped drinkin'." Leon briefly wondered how young Merl had been when he'd started drinking, since he looked like he couldn't be much older than 20.

Redirecting his thoughts back to Redfern's disappearance, Leon asked, "He didn't normally buy that much? And that was the last time you saw him?"

"Nah, he liked to buy one bottle at a time, never that many. And yeah, I 'spose that was the last time I saw him. Poor drunkard probably fell down some hole somewhere."

Leon felt something somewhere click in the back of his mind at Merl's words. He needed to get to Qwills, there was much to investigate once he got there. Hopefully there would be something left…

"Well thanks for all the information Merl, it was really helpful. Have a great day!" Leon said genuinely. Merl may be a former drunk and slightly slow, but he'd proven incredibly useful.

"You too Leon! Have a great night and drive safe, looks like it might get to snowin'."

Moving quickly, Leon exited the gas station and hopped into his car and drove the short distance to the turn off to Qwills. The drive was slower than he liked and as he drew closer to the former Qwills he felt both a mixture of excitement and anxiety fill him. Excitement at the possibility of finding something revealing, and anxiety at returning to Qwills when he _knew _that innocent lives had been lost there.

About twenty minutes later Leon entered the town and felt a stab of trepidation as the sign that had previously welcomed him was now blackened and indecipherable. He drove along a dirt road that was much bumpier than he remembered and looked out at the wasteland that had become Qwills.

While it had been a small town comprised of forty or so people and just a few houses and buildings, it now was inhabited by blackened dirt and trees. The thick layer of trees in the region had been thinned out, but the ones that remained were charred almost beyond recognition. Leon could barely make out remnants of former houses and stores. Qwills had become an empty ghost town—a graveyard of ashes.

Leon slowed his car as he passed what he was almost certain had been Marianne's house. His heart felt heavy at the memory of her. Somewhere someone was mourning her and the hole her absence had likely created. She was probably someone's mother, someone's grandmother, someone's sister…

_Stop it, _Leon thought to himself and pushed those overly sentimental thoughts away. He couldn't focus on the sadness her loss made him feel; he needed to focus on finding out _who _was responsible for her death.

A short way down the road Leon pulled over and stepped out of his car. The chill of the evening air seemed to immediately sink into his bones as he stood in the quiet air. It was eerily quiet. He took a few steps forward toward the ruins of one of the houses when suddenly he stopped. The hairs on the back of his neck had abruptly stood on end. Leon had an overwhelming sense that he was _not _a_lone_.

Whirling around, Leon faced the open and empty road. No cars, people, planes, or any remote signs of activity met his gaze. No sounds found his ears. There was nothing; absolutely nothing. The sun was still setting but the dark shadows it cast only added to Leon's intense feeling of being watched. He did another turn and thoroughly surveyed his surroundings. His eyes found nothing out of the ordinary, but still the feeling remained.

Deciding to push his nerves aside, Leon moved toward one of the ruins of a former house. There was just barely a foundation left and Leon felt fairly confident that if he'd gone rummaging around in those remains they'd crumble under his weight.

Leon continued to move away from the ruins and farther into Qwills. There was nothing left intact; no buildings were left standing wherever he looked. Leon pressed forward though, curious to see if he'd find what he was looking for. At last Leon's eyes fell on a fairly large, slightly raised hole in the ground. Leon moved toward it, his anticipation rising until he stood at the very precipice of the hole.

It was a community well, likely one that supported two or three families. Leon eyed it carefully and couldn't help but feel like he was staring at something mildly medieval. Weren't things like open wells only found in third world countries? Then again, Qwills was a small and rather out dated town.

Leon pulled out a small flashlight from his jacket and knelt down by the corner of the well, peering into the darkness below. Because the sun was setting he couldn't quite see the bottom and he doubted it still contained water anyway since the entire town had been scorched to a crisp.

The flashlight was blindingly bright as he turned it on and shined it down the well. At first he saw nothing but blackened stones but then something shiny and sharp caught his eye. Leon leaned closer to the wells mouth and eyed the shiny object. It was blackened from heat and fire but he was fairly certain it was a piece of brown stained glass, like that from a bottle of Jack Daniels. It wasn't much to go on, but it was enough to fuel Leon's continued search of the well.

Panning his flashlight over more of the well, Leon leaned even closer and briefly felt a stab of panic as a portion of wells mouth crumbled under his weight. After a moment of rebalancing and shifting Leon regained his composure and continued his search.

As the flashlight continued to shine over the bottom, Leon became vaguely aware of a rotten scent emanating from the bottom of the well. Leon took a deeper sniff and wrinkled his nose at the distinct odor of fetid, dead flesh. It may not be Isaac Redfern at the bottom, but there certainly was_ something_ dead at the bottom of the well.

Extending his arm, Leon tried to illuminate more of the well when a flash of something shockingly white caught his eye. He waved his flashlight back over that dash of color and paused. Leon couldn't quite make it out but could clearly tell there was something long, stick-like, and white nestled under some of the blackened debris. He continued trying to adjust the flashlight to get a better idea of what he was looking at when his eyes caught the end of the white object and he reeled back in surprise.

After stumbling back and nearly losing his balance and toppling into the well again, Leon steadied himself and directed the flashlight at the long white object to confirm his suspicion. Buried under a bit of charred debris, there clearly was the head of a femur which extended into the long, white object he'd seen.

Leon panned the flashlight farther up away from the femur bone and could just barely make out what he was fairly certain was the crown of a human skull. He couldn't make out any more than that, but clearly there was a body in this well; a body and a shard of brown stained glass.

It couldn't be a coincidence.

Leon scooted away from the well, leaned back on his haunches and looked around the eerily quiet town. Had he really just found Isaac Redfern? Had whoever had decided it necessary to destroy Qwills known that there was a human body festering in the bottom of a community well?

Suddenly something else clicked in Leon's head. He remembered Marianne's words about how a family had had a big town get together and shared their lemonade with everyone but a few. People had gotten sick after that event—after they'd shared lemonade.

"Were you the source? Were you infected with…_whatever _it was back at Panacea, and you brought it here in a drunken stupor?" Leon whispered to himself as he looked at the well and the dark secrets it held. The image of the young dying girl at Panacea suddenly popped into his head and made him want to vomit.

_I couldn't save her; I couldn't save grandma Marianne…what is going on? _Leon thought to himself as the stillness of the town sunk into him. Abruptly, Leon stood and stumbled away from the well. He had to get out of this place, away from the well with the deadly riddles; away from Qwills and the ghosts that seemed to haunt the burned out buildings.

Stumbling almost blindly, Leon got into his car, started it up and made a U turn. He left Qwills so fast his tires spun.

The farther away he got from Qwills the better he felt. The implications of the current situation were concerning to say the least. Leon did not like where things were going.

As Leon drove back to town his mind wandered to Ada and her part in all of this. Did she know that Redfern was likely infected and had almost certainly infected the entire town of Qwills? Better yet, was she aware of the awful things that someone had done to Panacea's employees? How much did Ada know and how _responsible _was she? Leon sighed in frustration. He needed to talk to her, needed to catch the spider in one of her own webs.

The sun was still setting when Leon pulled into a Panda Express to get takeout. He didn't have time to cook and his stomach had been growling during the entire drive back into town.

Leon made his way into the restaurant and stood in line to place his order. As he waited his growing sense of paranoia peeked. Once again he got the distinct feeling someone was watching him. His eyes began to wander over the other people in the restaurant, the counter, and the security mirrors in the corners. A flash of red in one of mirrors immediately snagged Leon's attention. He froze the instant he caught sight of the familiar outline.

It was hard to tell, but he could just make out a woman with a red scarf and black coat in the mirror. She was farther away, outside of the restaurant. Leon could see that she was leaning against a car not far from his own and occasionally glanced in his direction.

_Is that you Ada? Are you following me? Watching me? _Leon wondered as he moved up in the line, pretending to be none the wiser. He hoped she hadn't realized he'd noticed her. For once he wanted to be a step ahead of the coy devil.

Leon ordered his food and moved through the line to pay for it, all the while keeping a watch on the woman in the mirror. She'd moved slightly farther away from the restaurant as he drew closer to the end of the line. He knew that soon she would vanish in plain sight and if he wasn't careful he'd lose her completely.

After paying, Leon dawdled for a few minutes at the cash register and caught sight of what he was certain was Ada, moving away from the restaurant all together. He turned just in time to see her saunter to the sidewalk and prepare to pass through a cross walk. Leon left the Panda Express and headed to his car, never completely taking his eyes of Ada.

She was moving into a cross walk some distance from him, her red scarf blowing in the wind. As he climbed into his car he kept an eye on Ada in his rearview mirror and slowly backed out. Ada had finished crossing and was now walking up the street in the direction he would take to get to his apartment. If he hadn't spotted her earlier he would've missed her completely, as she blended in with the crowd quite well especially since darkness was falling.

He continued on his way home as if he knew nothing but always kept her in his sights. Thankfully the speed limit on this road was slow and traffic was somewhat heavy so he never got too far ahead of her. She continued to follow the sidewalk and mingle with the crowd as if she truly belonged there. They both knew she didn't.

"A wolf in sheep's clothing," Leon murmured to himself as he turned onto his street.

Leon parallel parked and sat in the car for a few moments. He pretended to be looking around for something. Ada appeared in his rearview mirror again and turned onto his street as well. Leon felt brief moment of panic that he'd been found out when he saw her abruptly cross the street to a building parallel to his apartment. He continued to pretend to search for something as Ada continued walking down the street.

Ada suddenly slipped into a darkened alley and vanished from sight. A surge of alarm shot through Leon, making him immediately exit the vehicle. Leon hesitated, struck with indecision. He could follow her and risk being discovered or he could cut his losses and call it quits. His body shifted toward his apartment building for a fraction of a second before he pursued Ada into the alleyway.

The building attached to the alley was one Leon knew to be office space that was frequently open for rent. Leon's gaze briefly lingered on the building, wondering if perhaps Ada had set up shop in there, but doubting it at the same time. It seemed too obvious for a woman as slippery as her.

If she hadn't caught onto him and was still none the wiser, than she might have actually gone into that building…which meant she'd be able to see into _his _apartment if she had a telescope or binoculars handy and knowing her, she did.

Leon entered the alleyway and felt his hopes sink as he was greeted with a very empty and dark alley, with no Ada. Sighing in frustration, Leon ran his hand through his hair and gazed up toward the heavens only to catch a brief glimpse of that same red scarf. With his hopes renewed slightly, Leon began quietly searching for a fire escape to continue the chase. After a few seconds of frantic searching, Leon found an old, rusty looking fire escape that led to the rooftop. He hesitated briefly before ascending the stairs…the stairs didn't exactly look safe, but then again this might be his only chance to catch a very illusive spider.

After a tedious climb up very rickety stairs, Leon arrived at the rooftop and was not really surprised to find it empty. Leon quickly glanced around and spotted the roof access door that would allow him entrance into the building. He could not let her get away and whispered a prayer of thanks when the roof access door opened without hesitation.

This time, he would be one step ahead of her.

The interior of the building was dark and Leon wondered how Ada could possibly navigate it. Stealthy as a thief in the night, Leon snuck down the blackened stairwell until he came upon a door that led to the main floor of the building. Leon tried the handle and couldn't believe his luck when it gave way and opened. Quiet as a mouse, Leon slipped into the darkness beyond.

Leon quietly listened for sounds in the building. At first he heard nothing, and then he heard just the softest of voices coming from somewhere below; somewhere on the second floor. Leon quietly shuffled around until he found the staircase and carefully crept down toward the sound of the voice. He knew it was hers.

Remarkably, Leon made it down the stairs and through the vacant hall without attracting any attention. Finally he stood just outside the door where the soft voice he knew so well spoke. He listened quietly for her to finish.

"Why is _he _involved?" Ada demanded. "No one told me that there would be internal interference."

Leon pressed his ear closer to the door, trying to hear more.

"Yes; yes, I understand. I _understand_." Leon heard a soft sigh and a tiny 'beeping' sound that he felt fairly certain was her ending her phone call. Now was the time.

Leon's hand took hold of the door handle and twisted. He stepped into a dimly lit room and saw Ada give him one brief surprised expression before she ducked and rolled to the side, a firearm now in her hand. She landed in a crouch and pointed the weapon at him. Leon couldn't help but smile in triumph. He'd caught her in her own web.

"Honey I'm home," Leon said, a smirk on his face as he kicked the door shut behind him.


	13. Riddles of a Caged Butterfly

**A/N:**

**Avogadro602**: Hey guys! We would've posted sooner, but life got in the way. As usual, we are both flattered and super excited to get any and all reviews. Please, keep them coming :-)

Disclaimer: We no own Resident Evil. Resident Evil belong Capcom.

Cover artwork is by LoneWolf117 from Deviantart.

**Chapter 13: **

**Riddles of a Caged Butterfly**

Leon watched Ada blink and then raise an eyebrow ever so slightly, gun still trained on him. "Leon?" There was a hint of unease underneath her usually confident voice. A surge of euphoria ran through him that was almost narcotic. He'd _done it! _He'd _actually _caught the notorious Ada Wong by surprise!

_I can't believe I actually beat Ada at her own game, _he thought to himself and couldn't stop his lips from quirking up into a small grin. "I see dinner's not ready," he quipped as he surveyed the room. It was bare beyond a small cot in the corner and a compact duffel bag that sat in front of it. Another door stood open to his right, through which he could barely make out the edge of a toilet.

"Sorry, but I had to pick up the kids from school," she retorted and stood slowly. To his dismay, her gun stayed raised.

He glanced to the duffel bag, then then back to her. His smile fell. Just what had he caught her doing? He stepped forward into the room and she tensed. "Mind not pointing that thing at me?" He gestured vaguely to the gun still in her hands.

Ada hesitated, but reluctantly lowered the weapon. The flash of alarm she'd shown earlier was smoothed out and replaced by her usual flirtatious mask, though he could still sense tension in her body.

He could only guess that she didn't get taken by surprise very often. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, all traces of humor gone.

"Nothing of importance," she breathed and slid her gun into some unseen holster inside her coat. "Now, did you need something? Or were you just impatient to see me again?"

Catching her by surprise had given him confidence, so he easily brushed off her teasing. He had a mission here. "I want answers, and I get the feeling you might have the ones I'm looking for."

Ada crossed her arms and sauntered over to the cot. His eyes followed her, trained on her every move. "Now why would I know anything?"

"Don't play dumb," he growled and marched toward her. "You warned me before this whole mess started. You're _always _a step ahead of me." She laughed lightly and glanced away from him. Leon grabbed her arm to recapture her attention and leaned in threateningly. "So I think it's time you fill me in."

She smirked at him. "I see you think quite highly of me." She brushed off his hands and sat down on the cot, cross legged. "Well then, ask away."

He eyed her warily, but she just continued to give him a coy smile. "What are you really doing here? Are you following me?"

"Clearly, what I am doing here is talking to you," she answered in a teasing tone, "and I believe it was _you _who followed _me." _

Leon rolled his eyes. "When I said I wanted answers, I meant _real _ones."

"If you want real answers, then ask real questions," she replied and folded her hands neatly in her lap. "You won't get anywhere asking silly questions like those all night."

He groaned in frustration and sent her a glare. "Ada, could you be straight with me for _once?"_

To his surprise, she sighed and stood. She put a hand to her temple and her shoulders visibly sagged. "Leon," she said with weary, pleading eyes, "It's been a _very_ long day for me. Please, just give me a moment to freshen up and afterward I'll tell you everything I know." Her gaze darted to the bathroom and back. "Please," she begged, and Leon suddenly noticed the fatigue in her face—_real _fatigue. "I haven't slept in a very long time, and I would very much like to splash my face with some cold water. Please, it'll just be a moment."

Leon hesitated, and felt a surge of guilt. He suspected that she was on a mission here and while he didn't totally trust her intentions, she really did appear to be exhausted. He'd worked long hours with his job, and Ada very well might have worked even longer. He knew how much of a toll they took on the body; knew what pushing your health to its limits felt like. With himself between her and the door, could giving her five minutes to herself really be that bad?

After a few seconds Leon nodded and stepped aside, intentionally placing himself in front of the exit. Ada sent him a thankful smile and walked toward the bathroom. In that moment she could've been a normal woman, simply tired from a long day. It was funny, but he'd never really thought about Ada doing everyday things before. She was just so mysterious. It was almost comical to think of her doing something as mundane as washing her face, or brushing her teeth. He smiled faintly at the thought.

As she shut the door, a thought suddenly struck him. Ada was, by trade, a master spy and escape artist. _Did that bathroom have a window?_

Oh shit.

He blanched and sprinted over to the bathroom. Did Ada even _need _a window? _Idiot, idiot, idiot, _he scolded himself inside his head. When he threw the door open, Ada was already across the small room standing in front of an open window. At the sight of him she quickly reached into her coat and pulled out her grapple gun. But in the time it took for her to pull it out, Leon had already reached her.

She aimed outside and pulled the trigger, but at the last second Leon pushed her arm down. The grapple missed and hit the wall instead, hanging uselessly. Leon made a grab for the gun but Ada ducked and tumbled away from him. When she stood again she sent him a cocky smirk. "Well Leon, it's been fun but," She pulled the trigger on her grapple gun, "I've really got to be going."

The grapple line, which had landed in the corner and currently wound itself behind Leon, suddenly pulled taught. The force hit Leon in the back of his knees and threw his weight out from under him. Leon landed on his back with a painful thud as Ada dashed out of the room.

Leon gritted his teeth and shoved his discomfort aside. He pushed up off the floor and contracted his ab muscles at the same time, using his momentum to roll himself to his feet. It took him barely a second, but when he reached the dilapidated bedroom she was already at the other window, pushing it open. This time she already had the gun out; she only needed to aim. An adrenaline fueled fury spread through his chest and he sprinted toward her.

She raised the gun and pulled the trigger.

"_No you don't!_"

He tackled her as the line began to withdraw. The gun slipped from her fingers and clattered against the window frame, helpless without its owner. They crashed to the ground in a tangle of limbs.

The impact knocked Ada's breath from her lungs and she coughed suddenly. Leon loosened his grip on her, concern draining away some of his resolve. "Are you alright?"

Ada took the chance and slithered out of his grasp abruptly. He grabbed at her waist, but she rolled away—in the direction of the grapple gun. She reached for it but he was faster, scrambling forward and snagging the gun himself. He thanked the years of training that had taught him to pay attention to fine detail and pressed the button which he knew would unhook and retract the grapple.

They stood and watched each other with narrowed eyes, panting. "I'm not leaving here without some answers. This can stop when you give me some. _Real _ones."

She laughed and raised an eyebrow. "You _really _think you can stop me, agent Kennedy?"

The way she said his name reminded him of Felix and he winced. "I just want to have an honest conversation with you. Is that too much to ask?"

Ada tapped her chin in thought. "Hmmmn, let me think…" He blinked and she shot forward, kicking high and aiming towards the hand with the gun.

Instinctually, he ducked and rolled to the side. Ada had corrected herself in a flash, and was coming toward him again when he glanced to the ceiling. He made a quick calculation in his head and just as she reached him, he shot the grapple at the lighting fixture and pulled the trigger. To his surprise it held, pulling him up with it. When it had reached the end of its line he let go, leaving the gun attached to the fixture… and with the abnormally high ceilings in this place, out of Ada's reach.

When he landed, Ada was glaring at him. He almost staggered at seeing the emotion on her face. "I'm sorry," he said, laughing dryly, "Does my desire for you to be honest for once in your life bother you?"

Ada closed her eyes and smoothed her face. "That's not my only gun, you know," she said when she opened them, her face seemingly composed. She reached into her jacket and pulled out her pistol.

His brows lowered when he saw the gun. "Really? You're going to shoot me, Ada?"

She regarded him dangerously. "I might if you don't get my gun down from there right now."

He frowned at her and briefly weighed the likelihood of her being serious before coming to a decision. "No."

Her lips pressed in a thin line and she raised the gun at him. "I'm going to count to three," she whispered in a sweet voice.

Leon shook his head. "Ada, after everything we've been through I think you owe me some answers. We _both _know you know more than you're letting on."

"One."

He stood his ground. Catching her off guard like this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he wasn't about to just give it up. "Is the truth _really _so terrible that you're willing to kill me for it? Ada, I know you better than that."

"Two."

Then again, Ada had proven time and time again to have a questionable loyalty. His breathing picked up slightly. No matter how sure he was, the barrel of a gun pointed at you was never a friendly sight. "Just tell me why you're here. Tell me what happened at Panacea, at Qwills…Ada, you can't leave me in the dark like this."

Her eyes narrowed. "Three."

Leon ducked at the exact moment that Ada's hand jerked upward. The round went off just as he tackled her to the ground again—the shot had just missed the lighting fixture. He leaned his own body over hers and used his weight to keep her from escaping. With one hand he pinned her arms above her head, and while the other forced the gun out of her hand. She sighed, seemingly defeated. "Fine. Take my guns." Her eyes darted up to him with a defiant, yet alluring gleam. "You want to frisk me too, Leon?"

He hesitated on the idea. In this position, he became aware of just how _close _they were; her waist was caged between his thighs and bent over like this he could feel the warm fan of her breath. All points of contact—the deceivingly soft skin of her forearm, the pressure of her hips—became glaringly obvious to him. Of course, getting that reaction out of him had clearly been her goal. She wanted to throw him off guard so that she could escape… However, she _could _have more weapons on her, and in all honesty she probably did. Given where she had actually aimed when she fired, she probably wouldn't use any of them on him, but still….the challenge in her eyes was hard to resist. He stepped off her. "If you insist…"

She laid there compliantly as he began to pat her down. _I'm doing this to be safe and thorough, _he told himself as he gently probed up and down her black sleeves. He patted down her waist and realized with a frown that while form fitting, the long coat left enough room for any number of things to be hiding in it…

"You can take it off, if you'd like," she suggested with a wink.

He swallowed. _I'm doing this to be safe, _he told himself again, _not because I want to. _Hesitantly, he undid the buckle that held the jacket closed. He parted the sides and let them sit open to reveal a thin black button up and a short pencil skirt with a slit almost up to her hip. A red belt circled her waist. There was a slight gap at the top button of her shirt where his eyes strayed momentarily. When she raised an eyebrow, he quickly moved onto examining the seams in her coat.

In a hidden pocket just to the left of her armpit, he found a syringe. Curiously, it was empty. When he looked at her in question, she only smiled innocently back at him. Deciding that no harm could come from an empty syringe, he replaced it and continued his search.

Starting at her neckline, he carefully traced his way down her body. His hands ran over her sides, examining suspicious wrinkles only to find solid, warm body beneath. The feel of her rib cage, steadily rising and falling underneath his fingertips, was distracting. He intentionally skirted around her breasts to avoid stretching his willpower, which seemed to amuse her to no end.

When he reached her thighs she sent him a devilish smile. Just below her hip he discovered a hard object and his eyes narrowed. Slowly, he pulled up the end of her skirt to expose upper thigh. He found the knife strapped there and removed it, his fingers grazing her soft skin. He set it out of her reach and continued to pat her down.

"I think you're enjoying this too much," she taunted.

He rolled his eyes at her but realized with hidden embarrassment that he actually had an erection. When he finished patting her down, he sat back (carefully) and observed her. Her head was turned to face him, her black hair pressed against her cheek as she smirked at him with knowing eyes. He blushed and cleared his throat. "Now, will you _please _answer my questions honestly?"

She sat up and stretched, arching her back and folding her legs beneath her. There were little red marks from the carpet on her cheek. He couldn't help but wonder what patterns would have been made if it had been her back pressed against the carpet instead, naked and glistening with sweat… "Alright," Ada purred and then added after a moment, "…unless you'd rather do something else?"

Leon swallowed and pushed the thoughts from his mind. "Tell me what really happened at Panacea," he ordered, blurting out the first legitimate thing he could think of.

Ada sighed and looked mildly disappointed. "Honestly, I don't know entirely. It appears that something went wrong with Isaac's research, which managed to wipe out the entire compound…through one way or another."

Something in his chest tightened. "What do you mean by, 'one way or another'?"

She examined her nails and appeared disinterested in the conversation. "His work, whether from a direct accident, or from other..._indirect _sources, caused the fall of the compound."

He swallowed again, this time for a much different reason. "Did…did you have anything to do with it?"

"Other than having an intimate knowledge of Isaac Redfern? No."

Leon let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. That question had been weighing on him for a while, and though her answer was obscure it relieved most of his worst fears.

Ada sent him a sly grin. "What do you take me for, a spy?"

He laughed dryly. "Very funny, Ada. So you know nothing else about Panacea's fall?"

"Nothing that would interest you."

He sent her a suspicious look. "Then you do know something?"

"I know that at the time of Panacea's fall, the most encrypted information in their whole system was the porn hidden on Isaac's computer, but I figured you wouldn't want to know that."

_I shouldn't have asked… _His lips curled up in disgust even as his next question formed its way out of his mouth. "Did you and he actually have something going on?"

She chuckled quietly. "Why Leon, I do believe I am detecting a hint of jealousy again…"

Leon clenched his jaw and pressed on. "Did you?"

She took her time answering, basking in his discomfort. "…Yes."

The corners of his mouth turned down without his permission. "Was it real? Did he know you by your real name?"

Her laughter was louder this time. "Leon, do _you_ know me by my real name?"

He genuinely frowned at that, and decided to abandon that line of questioning. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"The grand consensus is that he's dead. Being missing or unreachable for weeks on end tends to not be good for your health…unless you're me, of course."

"Were people actually following him?"

"It's hard to say."

"Were _you _following him?"

"Don't be absurd; everything between Isaac and I was consensual."

He ignored her attempt to goad him and continued on. "From what I've read it seemed like there was some outside source, some..._benefactor _that was pushing him to do something he didn't want to do. What were they doing there? And who else was involved?"

Ada straightened and looked him in the eye. "If you really want to go down that road, then I may know someone who can help you."

"You can't?"

"Not like she can. But be warned: this tree you're barking up is more likely to get you killed than give you answers."

There was danger in her voice that he sensed was not an act. But by now it was clear that this mess was not going to leave him alone by itself. He was already in too deep to get out now. The lives of those who had been lost weighed on him, pushing him forward. With his resolve strengthened, he nodded. "Tell me how to find them."

Her face was mysterious as ever when she spoke. "There's a woman by the name of Trinette Wheeler. She knew Isaac…intimately."

"More than you?"

Ada's delicate pink lips had once again turned coy. "Significantly. Let's just say that she and Isaac had a relationship that only money can buy."

Leon raised his eyebrows. "I see."

She hummed quietly. "Oh you will."When she stood, his eyes followed her up. He would not let her escape on him again, not now that he'd finally started getting somewhere. "If we're going to continue this line of questioning, could we do it from the bathroom? I really did want to freshen up."

He stood and tailed her when she walked toward the door. "I'm not leaving you alone in there."

She didn't bother to look back at him. "Then don't."

Leon followed her to the bathroom and stood by as she turned on the water and splashed it on her face. She leaned forward and braced her arms against the basin, her back to him. In the reflection of the dirty mirror he could see her face as water dripped from her chin. Her eyes were closed. One corner of her rose petal lips curved upward as he watched. "Have you found those answers yet, Leon?" Her eyes opened and met his through the reflection. Goosebumps sprouted up on his arms and he shivered.

Even now, disarmed and theoretically harmless, she exuded her control on him. She didn't need knives and guns to be dangerous…her body and mind alone could be more lethal than any physical weapon.

"Leon?" she repeated, holding his stare.

He swallowed. There was someone else he knew with that same control, only far more cold. "Felix knows about you," he blurted. "He knows you were at Panacea."

Ada straightened and pulled a lacey handkerchief out of her coat. "I'd be surprised if he didn't. Very few things escape that man's notice."

"You're not worried?" he asked, then added after a moment, "I think…he wants to control me."

She laughed humorlessly and dabbed her face dry. "I'm sure if he thought he could, he would."

Wellthat was an oddly comforting vote of confidence. He brushed it off, pressing on as a familiar unease settled in his stomach. "I think he might use you to get to me." She paused in her dabbing and flickered her gaze back to his in the mirror. "He threatened me, but I don't understand what it is he wants."

She tucked the handkerchief back into her coat and turned to face him. "So Felix used me to threaten you?" Ada laughed again. It was short and soft but real this time. "How cute."

He frowned and stepped towards her. "Ada, this is serious. He's dangerous. You should be careful."

More pearls of laughter came from her in response.

"_Ada," _he growled in frustration before sighing and running a hand through his hair. Clearly this route wasn't going anywhere. "I don't even understand how he became my partner in the first place," Leon eventually complained. "He obviously isn't a clean agent."

Ada sobered and folded her arms. "In cases like his, having a clean conscience and getting the job done generally aren't the same thing."

Leon snorted. "Sounds like you and he are two peas in a pod. How is it that you know him again?"

"A long time ago, there was something he wanted very badly. He enlisted my help in getting it."

"He recruited you for a mission?" he asked in surprise, "For The agency?"

"He was working for someone different then," she clarified, "And it was a personal mission."

"Felix has a personal life?" Leon asked, mildly amused.

"Everyone wants something," she replied with a mysterious smile. "Even him."

He paused, studying her and considering this. When he was about to ask more, she spoke up again. "I'm surprised you haven't asked about the tub."

His thoughts first went to their steamy encounter not so long ago, and he gaped at her momentarily until she jerked her head in the direction over his shoulder. Leon turned his head and took note for the first time of the combination shower-tub which sat on the opposite wall. A yellowing curtain was pulled and obscured the contents, but something small and black peaked out at the front end. Curious, Leon stepped forward and nudged the curtain back for a better look…only to rear back in shock.

The bodies of two men, both masked and wearing body armor were wedged inside the tub. The small black thing Leon had seen was the finger of one of their gloved hands.

He sent Ada an alarmed look. "_Why _are there _bodies _in the tub_?!" _

Ada gave the smallest of shrugs and leaned up against the doorframe. "You had some friends. I took care of them for you. Next time, you should try thanking me instead of interrogating me."

Anxiety bubbled through his stomach. The men in the tub, faceless with their masks, seemed frighteningly similar to the mysterious suit wearing mean from his nightmares not so long ago. If what Ada was saying was true, they'd been following him and he had no idea. He shook his head and focused on the other, possibly more significant information she'd revealed. "So what, you're protecting me now?"

"I was just passing through," she said casually, like it explained everything, "And I stumbled upon them. Good thing, too. I'm guessing you had no idea they were following you?"

He turned back to the tub and examined the two men further. Both were decked out in a form fitting black armor. It looked light, like the kind meant for agile movement. He caught sight of empty gun holsters at their hips. Wherever they were from, they had been prepared for a fight. "Are they dead?"

"Yes, but they left me little choice. Would you rather I let them kill you?"

"You could have told me," he grumbled quietly.

"And ruin all the fun of surprising you like this?" Ada called back to him, her voice teasing and strangely far away.

"Were you just going to leave them here?" He demanded, leaning in close to the first body to try and search for some identifying information. "If they really were trying to kill me, I should call this in."

"I wouldn't worry about that," she replied, "Someone will be here to deal with them in a few hours. You should make sure you're gone by then." _Make sure _I'm _gone? _He thought to himself suspiciously. Her voice had grown awfully faint all of the sudden…He turned around and was no longer in the bathroom

Leon ran out to the main room and cursed again. The window was open again, and there was no sign of Ada. The pile of weapons he'd confiscated from her was gone as well, and her grapple gun had been removed from the lighting fixture. What magic she had worked to get it down so quickly (and without him noticing, to boot) he had no idea. The sneaky little vixen had gotten away again…

He sighed irritably and surveyed the rest of the room. The only evidence of her presence she'd left behind was the small black duffel bag. _Looks like she forgot something, _he thought triumphantly and knelt down next to it. If he was lucky it might contain some clue as to what she was really doing here.

He opened the bag and his eyebrows shot up. "What the—dammit, Ada!" There were only two objects inside: one was a quickly scratched out note in the fine slant of Ada's handwriting. It read: _Another memento, just for you. _And sitting below it—in all of its lacey glory—was a cherry red thong, still warm from Ada's skin.


End file.
